Weekly US jobless claims rise past forecasts

US jobless claims jumped past forecasts, despite the impact of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday falling at the start of the latest reference week.

Initial unemployment claims rose by 22,000 during the week ending on 21 January, to reach 259,000, according to the Department of Labor.

Economists had anticipated a smaller increase to 247,000.

The reading for the previous week was revised up by 3,000 to 234,000.

The four-week moving average, which aims to smoothe out some of the volatility in the initial claims numbers, on the other hand slipped by 2,000 to 245,500.

Secondary unemployment claims, those which are not filed for the first time and referencing the prior week grew by 41,000 to hit 2.10m.

As of 1438 GMT, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was higher by two basis points at 2.53%.