US weekly Initial Jobless Claims decline to 216,000 vs. 225,000 expected

• Initial Jobless Claims in the US fell by 6,000 in the week ending November 22.
• The US Dollar Index clings to modest daily gains near 99.80.

There were 216,000 Initial Jobless Claims in the week ending November 22, a decrease of 6,000 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 1,000 to 223,750.

"The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 15 was 1,960,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level," the DOL noted in its press release.

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index inches higher in the early American session on Wednesday and was last seen posting small daily gains at 99.83.