USD: US jobless claims fall by more than expected in good day for the dollar

It has been a surprisingly good week for US economic data as more better-than-expected data came in yesterday. US jobless claims fell by 12,000 to 260,000 when 265,000 had been forecast. However, there is the possibility that the recent hurricanes that have hit America could have played a role in this, so the jury is still out on how much these figures matter in the context of the US economy.

The dollar strengthened considerably against sterling, but also made some gains against the euro too. Wednesday’s service sector numbers, the jobless claims, and US factory goods orders rising by more than expected are helping to push the greenback higher against a basket of currencies. There is also the significantly increased expectations of an interest rate rise in December.

Could the week of positive data fall at the final hurdle? We will find out later today in the form of the US non-farm payrolls. They are forecast to edge higher by 98,000, but if they exceed expectations again, we could see more rallying from the dollar.