Mubasher: US unemployment claims went down 3,000 week-on-week to 213,000 claims in the week ended 12 January, according to data released on Thursday.

The more stable monthly average of claims went up 1,000 to 220,750 from the prior week's unrevised average of 221,750, the US Department of Labor said.

The initial seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate for the week ended 5 January stood at 1.2%, unchanged from the preceding week’s unrevised rate.

The provisional seasonally adjusted figure for the insured jobless individuals in the US rose 18,000 to 1.737 million during the week ended 5 January, compared to the previous week’s downwardly revised 1.719 million.

The initial unadjusted number of actual initial claims filed under state programmes reached a total of 344,916 in the week ended 12 January, declining by 3,215 claims or 0.9% from the claims filed in the previous week, while initial claims were 354,050 in the same week last year.

By 1:33 pm GMT, the index ticked up to 96.1490.