Mubasher: US unemployment claims declined 3,000 week-on-week to 223,000 claims in the week ended 2 March, according to data released on Thursday.

The more stable 4-week average of claims fell 3,000 to 226,250 from the previous week's upwardly revised average of 229,250, the US Department of Labor said.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate for the week ended 23 February ticked down to 1.2% from the prior week’s unrevised rate.

The initial seasonally adjusted figure for the insured jobless individuals in the US dropped 50,000 to 1.755 million during the week ended 23 February, compared to the previous week’s unrevised 1.805 million.

The preliminary unadjusted number of actual initial claims filed under state programmes totalled 202,682 in the week ended 2 March, rising by 16,969 claims or 8.4% from the claims filed in the preceding week, while initial claims were 225,513 in the comparable week last year.

By 1:28 pm GMT, the US dollar index rose 0.29% to 97.1560.