020 7898 0500In a week that ended pretty well for the dollar which retraced the losses made at the start of the week, the US posted some extremely positive economic data in the form of initial jobless claims. In the week up to 24 March 2018, the amount of people filing for unemployment benefit fell to 215,000 from 227,000 the previous week. It is the lowest figure for 45 years and claims have now been below 300,000 (the threshold which points to a strong labour market) for 158 weeks on the trot.
The other release of note was the University of Michigan consumer sentiment which was revised down to 101.4 in March from an initial estimate of 102. It is still above 99.7 the month before and is the strongest since February 2014.
There are no major releases for the US today, but while we were all enjoying a Bank Holiday yesterday, the manufacturing PMi was released. It had been expected to fall from 60.8 to 60.0 but the figure actually came in at COMPLETE.
For more on currencies and currency risk management strategies, please get in touch with your Smart Currency Business trader on 020 7898 0500 or your Private Client trader on 020 7898 0541.
