Mubasher: US unemployment claims increased during the week ended 6 January despite continued disruption in the claims-taking process in the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

The number of people claiming benefits grew by 11,000 to 261,000 claims last week, marking the fourth consecutive week of increases, according to data released by the US labor department on Thursday.

Economists had expected claims to decrease to 245,000 during the week.

Data also showed that continuing claims fell by 35,000 to 1.867 claims in the week ended 30 December.

By 02:25 pm GMT, the US dollar index dropped 0.40% to $91.967.