US weekly jobless claims little changed, secondary filings keep falling

The number of people queuing for jobless insurance in the States remained near a record low last week.

According to the Department of Labor, initial unemployment claims for the week ending on 8 February edged up by 2,000 from the prior seven-day stretch to reach 205,000.

Economists at Barclays had forecast an increase of 8,000 to 210,000

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average, which aims to smoothe out the fluctuations in the data from one week to the next, was unchanged from the prior week's upwardly revised 212,000.

The four-week moving average for the week ending on 8 February was initially reported as 211,750.

Secondary unemployment claims, those which are not filed for the first time and referencing the week ending 1 February, fell by 61,000 to 1.698.0m.