EUR/USD went up today after three sessions of decline as consumer sentiment unexpectedly fell this month. Additionally, unemployment claims demonstrated a huge surge, but the report was considered unreliable. The increase was attributed partly to the US government shutdown and partly to the data from the states that were unable to process claims due to upgrading their computer systems. All in all, the report was skewed and likely does not reflect the actual trends on the US labor market. It was surprising to see employment data as most government agencies are not working because of the budget impasse, meaning that the stream of economic information from the United States is extremely thin.
Michigan Sentiment Index dropped from 77.5 in September (revised up from 76.8) to 75.2 in October, according to the preliminary reading. Forecasters have promised just a small decrease to 77.2. (Event A on the chart.)
Yesterday, a report on initial jobless claims was released, showing a huge surge from 308k to 374k last week, though the data was very likely unreliable. Analysts have expected no change. (Not shown on the chart.)
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