US: Weekly initial jobless claims unchanged at 230K, Q1 nonfarm productivity rose 3.6%

According to the weekly data published by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), 230,000 citizens applied for unemployment benefits in the week ending April 27. "The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 20 was 1,671,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week's revised level," the DOL said in its publication.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the nonfarm productivity in the first quarter increased by 3.6% to surpass the market expectation of 2.2% but the unit labour costs in the same period declined by 0.9% to miss analysts' estimate for a growth of 1.5%.

The US Dollar Index ignored these data and was last seen moving sideways in its daily range above mid-97s.