Forecast: U.S. unemployment claims expected to rise

NEW YORK (Forex News Now) – The Department of Labor is due on Thursday to publish key data on new U.S. unemployment claims, in one of the day’s major realtime forex news events.

The report is expected to show that the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose to 425,000 last week, according to two major online FX trading news outlets, up from 407,000 during the previous week.

The department is scheduled to release the report at 1:30 P.M., GMT; as such the data is likely to dominate European afternoon currency market trading.

However, currency market trading could also be affected Thursday by the release of other reports, including October figures on pending home sales.

According to EUR USD analysis, a smaller-than-expected drop in claims, or even an increase, could lift EUR/USD toward key resistance around the high of Sep. 21, 1.3285.

But should the data show a greater-than-forecast drop, it could whet FX traders’ risk appetites, which would likely benefit the euro against the dollar.