US: Initial Jobless Claims rose to 242K last week

•  Initial Jobless Claims rose above consensus to 242K.
• Continuing Jobless Claims dropped to 1.862M in the week ending February 15.

US citizens filing new applications for unemployment insurance increased to 242K for the week ending February 22, as reported by the US Department of Labor (DoL) on Thursday. This print missed initial estimates and was higher than the previous week's revised tally of 220K (from 219K).

The report also highlighted a seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate of 1.2%, while the four-week moving average rose by 8.5K to 224.00K from the prior week’s revised average.

Moreover, Continuing Jobless Claims went down by 5K to reach 1.862M for the week ending February 15.

Market reaction

The Greenback maintains its bullish attitude around 106.70 when tracked by the US Dollar Index (DXY), adding to Wednesday’s advance.