US weekly Initial Jobless Claims decline to 209K vs. 218K expected

• Initial Jobless Claims in the US decreased by 1,000 in the week ending March 9.
• US Dollar Index clings to small daily gains near 103.00.

There were 209,000 initial jobless claims in the week ending March 9, the weekly data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) showed on Thursday. This print followed the previous week's print of 210,000 (revised from 217,000) and came in better than the market expectation of 218,000.

Further details of the publication revealed that the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% and the 4-week moving average stood at 208,000, a decrease of 500 from the previous week's revised average.

"The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 2 was 1,811,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week's revised level" the publication read.

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index clings to modest daily gains near 103.00 in the early American session.