US Dollar rises on Real GDP growth of 0.9% in 1st Quarter. Jobless claims rise. | CountingPips Forex & Currency Trading Blog

May 29, 2008 - Forex Economic News

US Dollar rises on Real GDP growth of 0.9% in 1st Quarter. Jobless claims rise.

The U.S. economy grew by 0.9 percent in the first quarter of 2008 surpassing previous estimates. The U.S. Commerce Department report released today showed that the real gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 0.9 percent in the January to March quarter beating initial estimates released in April that showed a 0.6 percent growth rate. The first quarter GDP follows a fourth quarter of 2007 GDP growth of 0.6 percent. The U.S. dollar has gotten a boost from today's GDP news and from yesterday's better than expected core durable goods data. The dollar has increased against the majors with particular gains against the euro and Japanese yen. The dollar has increased to an exchange rate of 1.5508 dollars per euro today which is a gain of over 200 pips from the beginning of trading this week while the dollar has also increased against the yen to trade at 105.79 yen per dollar in today's trading. The dollar has gained over 250 pips verses the yen from the beginning of trading this week.

US Jobless Claims rise.

U.S. new jobless claims rose for the week according to data released today by the U.S. Labor Department. New jobless claims for the week ending May 24nd increased by 4,000 people to a seasonally adjusted total of 372,000 from a revised total of 368,000 claims the week before . A four week moving average of unemployment claims showed a decrease of 2,500 workers for an average of 370,500 workers. Workers continuing claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 17th rose by 36,000 to 3,104,000, up from the week before which saw a revised 3,068,000. A four week moving average of continuing claims increased by 18,500 from last week to 3,069,250. Last week's moving average registered 3,050,750.

Tags: us real gdp, gross domesitc product, forex trading, economy, jobless claims, unemployment

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