Initial Jobless Claims

Initial jobless claims are the number of people who, in the previous week, filed for the first time for unemployment insurance benefits. The US Department of Labor releases them every Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, making them the most timely read on the labour market between the monthly NFP reports. The series is noisy, so analysts watch the four-week moving average; rising claims point to a softening labour market and can weaken the dollar when they shift expectations for the Fed.