Peso weakens on decline in US jobless claims

The Philippine peso closed weaker against the US dollar on Friday as reports on the decline of US jobless benefits claims provided a boost to the greenback.

The local currency lost 9 centavos to close at P49.2:$1 from Thursday’s finish at 49.11.

“The peso exchange rate is weaker versus the US dollar for the third straight day… amid the stronger US dollar worldwide to near three-month highs, after the strongest US weekly initial jobless claims data since the pandemic started last year (since March 13, 2020),” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said.

The US Labor Department reported that new applications for unemployment benefits for the week ended June 26 declined to 364,000 from 415,000 in the previous week.

Since the start of 2021, the peso depreciated against the US dollar by a total of P1.177 or 2.5% from P48.023:$1 as of end-2020.—LDF, GMA News