Weekly US jobless claims fall by more than expected

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time last week decreased by more than expected.

Initial jobless claims fell by 6,000 over the week ending on 15 June to reach 216,000, according to the Department of Labor.

Economists at Barclays had penciled in a smaller decline to 220,000.

The four-week moving average meanwhile, which aims to smoothe out the volatility in the claims data from one week to the next, rose by 1,000 to 217.750.

Secondary unemployment claims, those which are not filed for the first time and referencing the week ending on 8 June, decreased by 37,000 to 1.662m.