Bitcoin holds steady as US jobless claims fall to 215,000

The latest US initial jobless claims dropped to 215,000 for the week ending April 12, coming in below the market expectation of 225,000 and marking the lowest level in over two months.

This decline signals continued resilience in the US labor market, with fewer Americans filing for unemployment benefits despite ongoing economic uncertainty and recent tariff escalations.

The four-week moving average of jobless claims also edged down to 220,750, reflecting a stable trend and reinforcing the perception of a tight labor market.

Continuing claims, however, rose to 1.885 million, suggesting some volatility in the number of people remaining unemployed.

“The level of the tariff increases announced so far is significantly larger than anticipated. The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell noted in a recent speech, addressing these developments.

Powell emphasised that the Fed does not plan to intervene with market bailouts or rate cuts in the near term, maintaining a cautious approach as the central bank evaluates the impact of tariffs and labor market strength.

For risk assets like Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC), the strong jobless claims data leans bearish in the short term, as a robust labor market reduces the likelihood of imminent rate cuts—an environment that typically supports speculative investments.

“Bitcoin Inflection Point. On the 1H chart, BTC is contracting within a triangle and is about to choose a direction. The RSI is above 50 and attempting to break its resistance. A move is brewing,” according to the trader Titan of Crypto.

Order flow trader Magus added that Bitcoin must break above $85,000 to sustain bullish momentum, warning that failure to do so could signal potential downside risk.

At the time of reporting, the Bitcoin (BTC) price was $84,556.32.