Data expected to show another drop in US jobless claims

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

The report is expected to show that the number of US workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits slid to 416,000 last week, according to at least two major online FX trading news outlets, down from 420,000 the previous week and continuing a steady downward trend that began at the start of December.

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.

According to EUR USD analysis, a smaller-than-expected drop in claims, or even an increase, could lift EUR/USD toward short-term resistance around the Dec. 22 high of 1.3181.

But should the data show a greater-than-forecast drop, the currency pair could be pushed toward short-term support around the Dec. 1 low of 1.2971.