Weekly US jobless claims steady
The U.S. jobs market appeared to remain tight during the latest reference week.
According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, initial unemployment claims over the week ending on 12 April were unchanged from the previous seven-day stretch at 212,000.
Economists had penciled-in a small rise to 215,000.
The four-week moving average, which aims to smooth out some of the volatility in the figures from one week to the next, was also steady, at 214,500.
Secondary unemployment claims, which are those not being filed for the the first time and referencing the week that ended on 6 April edged up by just 2,000 to 1.812m.
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