US: Weekly Initial Jobless Claims rises to 230K vs. 200K expected

• Initial claims rose to 230K in the week ending on January 8, above the 200K expected. 
• The insured unemployment rate fell to 1.1%. 

There were 230,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending January 8, data published by the US Department of Labor (DoL) revealed on Thursday. This reading followed last week's print of 207,000 and came in above consensus market expectations for 200,000. 

Continued jobless claims fell to 1.559M in the week ending January 1, the data showed, below expectations for a decline to 1.733M from 1.753M the week prior (which was revised lower from 1.754M). The insured unemployment rate fell to 1.1% versus 1.3% last week.