Weekly US jobless claims tick higher
The US jobs markets continued to tick along at a solid pace last week with just a very slight increase in the pace of layoffs.
Initial unemployment claims edged higher by 3,000 to reach 244,000 over the week ending on 5 August, according to the Department of Labor.
Economists had penciled in an unchanged reading of 240,000.
The prior week's reading was revised higher by 1,000 to 241,000.
The four-week moving average, which aims to smoothe out the fluctuations in the data from one week to another, slipped by 1,000 to 241,000.
Secondary unemployment claims, those which are not filed for the first time and referencing the week to 29 July decreased by 16,000 to 1.951m.