US jobless claims come in ahead of expectations

Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a faster than anticipated clip in the week ended 2 March, according to the Labor Department.

Initial jobless claims were unchanged from the prior week's upwardly revised reading of 217,000, ahead of analyst expectations for a reading of 215,000. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 215,000.

Elsewhere, continuing claims rose by 8,000 to 1.9m, the highest reading since November 2023 and above market expectations of 1.88m, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-wee-volatility, decreased by 750 to 212,250.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com