Initial Jobless Claims comes in at 196K against 201K consensus

Initial Jobless Claims in the United States came in at 196K for the latest period. This figure was below the market consensus of 201K, representing a -2.5% surprise. The previous week’s reading was also 196K. The lower than expected number suggests a slightly stronger labor market than analysts had anticipated.

Following the release, market reactions across major currency pairs were generally subdued in the initial 15 minutes. EURUSD moved -1.7 pips, GBPUSD moved -0.5 pips, and USDJPY moved -0.9 pips. USDCAD saw a move of +2.6 pips. These movements are small when compared to the typical median 1-hour moves for these pairs, such as EURUSD’s median 1-hour move of 10 pips, GBPUSD’s 13 pips, and USDJPY’s 10 pips. XAUUSD moved +0.3 pips, which is also small compared to its median 1-hour move of 29 pips.