Adding to the positive picture of the labor market painted by last week's monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a bigger than expected drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended January 5th.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 216,000, a decrease of 17,000 from the previous week's revised level of 233,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 225,000 from the 231.000 originally reported for the previous week.
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Forex News
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.