The number of Americans filling for unemployment benefits was 0.225 million in the week ended December 24, compared to 216k reported in the previous week. Today’s reading came in line with market expectations.
Unadjusted data showed claims rose the most in Missouri (4.785K), Kentucky (4.162K), Massachusetts (2.353K) and NY (2.234K).
The 4-week moving average which removes week-to-week volatility was little changed at 221K, still pointing to a tight labour market.
On the other hand, continuing claims reading, which lags initial jobless claims data by one week, jumped to 1.710 million from 1.672 million and remain near 11 month high, while analysts expected a smaller increase of 1.686 million. This is the sharpest increase of continuing claims since June 2020 and coupled with household survey indicate that US labour market may not be as strong as many expected.

Today's report showed that 1.710 million US citizens are filing for jobless claims on a continuing basis, a level not seen since early February 2022. Meanwhile 4-week average was little changed. Source: Bloomberg via ZeroHedge

EURUSD saw relatively small reaction to today’s data releases. The most popular currency pair continued to trade below resistance at 1.0660. Source: xStation5
Economic calendar: PMI from Europe and the US in the spotlight (23.01.2026)
Daily summary: Wall Street, precious metals and EURUSD surge📈Bitcoin under pressure
Economic calendar: Key U.S. data to shift focus from geopolitics (22.01.2026)
Market Wrap: Wall Street and Europe lose ground; markets await Trump in Davos🛣️