Mubasher: US unemployment claims increased more than forecasts during the week ended 31 March, but remained at low levels.

The number of people claiming benefits grew by 24,000 to 242,000 last week, data by the US labour department on Thursday showed.

Economists, polled by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), had expected a slighter rise to 225,000 during the week.

Data also showed that continuing claims fell by 64,000 to around 1.81 million in the week ended 24 March.

By 12:58 pm GMT, the EUR/USD pair slipped 0.25% to $1.2247.