Wall Street stock futures weakened on Thursday after data showed that the U.S. job market remains in poor health.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped last week and total claims lasting more than one week rebounded after a sharp drop the previous week.

Initial claims for jobless benefits rose 15,000 to 627,000 in the week ended June 20, the U.S. Labour Department said. The number of continuing claims, or those drawn by workers for more than one week in the week ended June 13, climbed 29,000 to 6,738,000, after plunging 126,000 the previous week.

Meanwhile, the final reading on U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product showed the American economy didn’t contract quite as rapidly as previously thought. GDP shrank at a 5.5% annual rate in the first three months of the year, better than the 5.7% reading in the last report.

Here at home, total non-farm payroll employment fell by 51,400 in April, down 0.4% from March, Statistics Canada reported.

Since the peak in October 2008, the number of employees has fallen every month, bringing total losses over this period to 376,500.

The Canadian dollar was at US86.18¢, down from Wednesday’s finish at US 86.77¢.

In earnings news, Nike reported a 30% decline in its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and said orders are down 12%, while Bed Bath & Beyond reported earnings topped the expectations of analysts.

In Asian stocks saw strong gains. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average rose 205.76 points, or 2.2%, to 9,796.08. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 382.88, or 2.1%, to 18,275.03.

In Europe, the UK’s FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 4,264.72, while France’s CAC 40 slid 0.5% to 3,168.67, and Germany’s DAX lost 0.9% to 4,793.41.

Broad-based gains carried the benchmark index of the Toronto Stock Exchange higher on Wednesday, with particular strength among financials and materials stocks.

All 10 main groups on the TSX advanced, sending the S&P/TSX composite index up 204.21 points, or 2.1%, to close at 10,100.93.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index also advanced on Wednesday, gaining 16.48 points, or 1.5%, to 1,090.66.

In New York, U.S. stocks finished with mixed results after the Federal Open Market Committee left its key interest rate unchanged and issued an upbeat statement about the economy, saying that the downturn is slowing and deflation is no longer a big threat.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 23.1 points, or 0.3%, to close at 8,299.86.

The S&P 500 index edged up 5.84 points, or 0.7%, to end at 900.94.

The Nasdaq composite index finished at 1,792.34, up 27.42 points, or 1.6%, after tech bellwether Oracle reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings that topped expectations.

IE