Wall Street opened cautiously after the bell on Thursday as investors digested a flurry of US employment data. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 ( ^FTSE ) and European stocks were muted.

It came as initial jobless claims fell to 227,000 last week, a drop of 5,000 on the previous seven days, and below the 230,000 which economists expected.

Separately, US private sector firms added fewer new jobs than expected last month at 99,000, the smallest monthly rise since 2021. Economists had expected a rise of around 145,000.

It was the fifth month running that ADP has reported a slowdown in job creation among private employers. The previous month’s figure was also revised lower from 122,000 to 111,000.

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