Breaking: 4.4 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

There were 4,427,000 Initial Claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending April 18th, the data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) revealed on Thursday. This reading followed last week's increase of 5.2 million and came in slightly higher than the market expectation of 4.2 million.

With this print, the total number of Initial Jobless Claims in the last five weeks surpassed 26 million.

Key takeaways

"The 4-week moving average was 5,786,500, an increase of 280,000 from the previous week's revised average."

"The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 11.0% for the week ending April 11, an increase of 2.8 percentage points from the previous week's unrevised rate."

"The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 11 was 15,976,000, an increase of 4,064,000 from the previous week's revised level."

Market reaction

With the initial reaction, the US Dollar Index retreated from session highs and was last seen gaining 0.1% on the day at 100.44. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 futures turned positive on the day to suggest that the market sentiment improved slightly on the data.

Jobless Claims Analysis: Improvement? Nonfarm Payrolls-linked data is more than devastating.

The third consecutive week of improvement? That fact provides little solace to the 4.427 million Americans that file for jobless benefits fro the first time in the week ending on April 17. Expectations stood at around 4.2 million. Continuing claims stand at 15.976 million in the week ending April 10, better than estimated.

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

GBP/USD holds losses below 1.3550 after weak UK jobs data

GBP/USD holds losses below 1.3550 in European trading hours on Tuesday. The UK ILO Unemployment Rate held steady at 4.9% in the three months to June, against a forecast of 4.8%, while Employment Change arrived at 83K in the same period versus 147K previous. Weak UK labor data keep the British Pound under pressure, driving the pair lower.

EUR/USD stays below 1.1600 despite upbeat sentiment data

EUR/USD struggles to gain traction and trades below 1.1600 in the European session on Tuesday, even after the data from the Eurozone and Germany highlighted improving economic sentiment in August. The US Dollar (USD) benefits from the risk-averse market atmosphere as tensions in Middle East remain high, making it difficult for the pair to turn north.

Gold sticks to losses below $4,400 as USD recovers further from two-month low

Gold remains depressed below the $4,400 mark through the first half of the European session, snapping a two-day winning streak amid a broadly firmer US Dollar. Inflation risks stemming from higher oil prices back the case for at least one interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve in 2026.

Pi Network holds steady amid app studio costs surge to push user adoption

Pi Network extends a consolidation range capped below $0.0900 holding above the $0.0839 support level. PI token remains under pressure as the Core Team pushes for real user adoption by raising costs for AI-powered app creation, effective from August 24. Leverage-linked risk exposure eases as Open Interest declines despite an increase in social interest.

Fiscal concerns and doubts on Fed independence send US yields to long-term highs

US Treasury yields keep rising across the curve this week, with the yield for the 30-year Treasury bond reaching its highest level since 2007, during the global financial crisis, at 5.33% so far on Monday. A mix of concerns about the ballooning US fiscal deficit and growing doubts about the Federal Reserve’s Independence are increasing pressure on US Government Bonds.

Why is Crude Oil priced for a reopening the ships haven't made?

Fourteen vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. Before the war, the count ran near 120 a day. In the sessions since the waterway was publicly declared open, Brent has drifted back to $87 and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) to $81, both a little lower again on Wednesday, with daily momentum on each unwound from the top of its range in late July to the low twenties now.