Mubasher: US unemployment claims increased 11,000 week-on-week to 234,000 claims in the week ended 19 May, data by the Labour Department showed on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate for the week ended 12 May stabilised at 1.2% from the previous week’s unrevised rate.

The seasonally adjusted number of the insured unemployed during the week ended 12 May increased by 29,000 to 1.74 million, compared to the prior week’s unrevised figure.

The unadjusted advance figure for actual initial claims filed under state programmes totalled 206,868 in the week ended 19 May, increasing by 11,654 claims 6% from those filed in the week before.

On a year-on-year basis, the figure of the claims fell from 210,544 for the same week.

The four-week moving average registered a rise of 6,250 claims to 219,750 for the week ended 19 May from the previous week's revised average, the data revealed.

As for the insured unemployment, the four-week moving average decreased 23,250 to 1.75 million, marking the lowest level since 15 December 1973 when it was 1.74 million.

By 12:54 pm GMT, the ICE US dollar index fell 0.26% to $93.7610.