Peso weakens on US jobless claims decline

The Philippine peso depreciated against the US dollar for the third straight session on Friday as the weekly decline in the number of jobless Americans supported the greenback.

The local currency shed 10.5 centavos to close at P52.515:$1 from 52.410 on Thursday.

“The peso weakened today after the initial US jobless claims data, which is the leading indicator of unemployment, came in stronger than expected,” Land Bank of the Philippines market economist Guian Angelo Dumalagan said.

Data from the US Labor Department showed the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits dropped 3,000 to 213,000 for the week ending January 12.

“This has surprised expectations following the recent, broadly weaker economic data from the US,” Dumalagan said.

Week-on-week, the local unit lost 37.5 centavos from P52.14:$1 on January 11. The peso was unchanged from 52.515 on January 2, the first trading day of 2019. —VDS, GMA News