The main economic highlight in Thursday’s session was the (weekly) unemployment filings out of the US for the week ending 3 December. According to the US Department of Labour, unemployment claims rose 230,000, 4,000 higher than the previous upwardly revised 226,000 reading; the release was largely in line with economists’ forecasts. The 4-week average also ended at 230,000, up 1,000 based on the previous week’s moving average value (revised). Continuing claims was higher at 1,671,000 from 1,609,000 the week prior. Overall, however, this data was largely ignored across the markets. It has been a somewhat muted week ... (full story)