US weekly Initial Jobless Claims decline to 224,000 vs. 225,000 expected

• Initial Jobless Claims in the US fell by 13,000 in the week ending December 13.
• The US Dollar Index stays in negative territory below 98.50.

There were 224,000 Initial Jobless Claims in the week ending December 13, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level, the US Department of Labor (DOL) reported on Thursday. This reading came in better than the market expectation of 225,000.

In this period, the 4-week moving average declined by 5,00 to 217,500.

"The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 6 was 1,897,000, an increase of 67,000 from the previous week's revised level," the DOL noted in its press release.

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index stays on the back foot and was last seen losing 0.1% on the day at 98.30.