The U.S. jobless claims continued to rise during last week, according to recent report published yesterday; as the initial claims increased by 43,000 for the week ending on April 30th, and it reached 431,000 claims; the insured unemployment rate rose to 3.0% for the week ending on April 23rd; and the number of insured unemployment was 3.733 million, an rise of 74,000 compared to the previous week’s number.
Yesterday, the financial markets shifted very rapidly as the US dollar appreciated compared to major currencies: the EURO/USD fell very rapidly.
The ECB also announced it won’t raise its interest rate, as oppose to market expectations. This decision by ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet might have caused a stronger reaction than anticipated as major commodities fell very sharply yesterday.
For more on this subject:
- Gold drops from 1500$ mark – Gold & Silver Prices Outlook, 5 May
- Oil prices continued to fall what’s next? – oil outlook 5 May
- Weekly outlook for May 2-6
- U.S GDP grew by only 1.8% in first quarter 2011