US jobless claims increase by 3,000
Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated pace in the week ended 2 November, according to the Department of Labor.
Initial jobless claims rose by 3,000 week-on-week to 221,000, in line with market expectations and continuing to point to a certain degree of resilience in the US labour market.
Continuing claims rose more than expected to 1.89m, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, fell by 9,750 to 227,250. The non-seasonally adjusted claim count rose by 10,827 to 212,274.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com