Weekly US jobless claims jump past forecasts

Weekly jobless claims data in the US covering the latest week came in well ahead of economists' forecasts.

According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms the number of Americans filing for unemployment claims rose by 13,000 to 861,000 over the week finishing on 13 February.

Economists had forecast a dip for initial claims to 775,000.

The previous week's estimate was revised higher by 55,000 to 848,000.

The four-week moving average of initial claims meanwhile slipped by 3,500 to 833,250.

Secondary unemployment claims, which tallies those not being filed for the first time and referencing the week until 6 February, continued to retreat, slipping by 64,000 to 4.49m.

To take note of, unlike initial claims, secondary claims are more closely linked to hirings than firings.