Mubasher: The number of unemployed individuals in the US who applied for benefits fell last week, official weekly data showed on Thursday.

US unemployment claims fell by 16,000 week-on-week to 212,000 claims in the week ended 11 May, the US Department of Labor said.

The more stable 4-week average of claims rose by 4,750 to 225,000 from the preceding week's unrevised average of 220,250.

The preliminary seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate for the week ended 4 May stood unchanged at 1.2% from the prior week’s unrevised rate.

The advance seasonally adjusted figure for the insured jobless individuals in the US dropped by 28,000 to 1.660 million during the week to 4 May, compared to the prior week’s unrevised 1.688 million.

The initial unadjusted number of actual initial claims filed under state programmes hit a total of 187,689 in the week to 11May, falling by 16,344 claims or 8% from the claims filed in the previous week, while initial claims were 195,214 in the same week last year.

The US dollar index, which traces the greenback against a basket of six major peers, rose by 0.13% to 97.68.