Weekly US jobless claims unexpectedly drop by 16,000

Fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits during the previous week than economists had anticipated.

According to the US Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, the number of initial unemployment claims dropped by 16,000 over the week ending on 22 April to reach 230,000.

Economists had penciled in a reading of 250,000.

The four-week moving average meanwhile slipped by 4,000 to 236,000.

Secondary jobless claims, those which are not being filed for the first time and referencing the week ending on 15 April, drifted lower by 3,000 to 1.865m.

"Elsewhere, the dip in jobless claims looks more like noise than signal," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

"The trend is rising, lagging the surge in layoff announcements. We expect a rebound next week."

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