TOKYO, Japan, Aug. 24, 2016 /The Economist/ Excon Fuji Securities Data released by the U.S. Department of Labor showed the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending July 2 decreased by 16,000 to 254,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 270,000, while analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 2,000 to 270,000 last week.
Moreover, U.S. Payroll processing firm ADP said non-farm private employment rose 172,000 last month, above forecasts for an increase of 159,000.
However, the greenback’s gains were capped after the minutes of the Fed’s June policy meeting released on Wednesday showed that policymakers decided to keep interest rate hikes on hold as they assessed the Brexit impact.
The sterling gained 0.51% against the dollar to 1.2996, off the previous session’s fresh 31-year lows of 1.2797.
It bounced back up after the U.K. Office for National Statistics said in a report on Thursday that manufacturing production fell by 0.5% in May, better than expectations for a decline of 1.0% and that industrial production decreased by 0.5%.
EUR/USD slipped 0.21% to 1.1075, while EUR/GBP fell 0.72% to 0.8521. USD/JPY slid 0.22% to 101.10, while USD/CHF rose 0.24% to 0.9772.
The Australian dollar was lower, with AUD/USD down 0.17% at 0.75076, while NZD/USD rallied 1.18% to 0.7214.
