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Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 7,000
to a seasonally adjusted 265,000 for the week ended Oct. 29, the
highest level since early August, the Labor Department said on
Thursday. Claims for the prior week were unrevised.
It was the 87th consecutive week that claims remained below
300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labor market.
That is the longest stretch since 1970, when the labor market
was much smaller.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast first-time
applications for jobless benefits would be unchanged at 258,000
in the latest week.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left interest rates steady but
said its monetary policy-setting committee "judges that the case
for an increase in the federal funds rate has continued to
strengthen."
The U.S. central bank is widely expected to increase its
overnight benchmark interest rate in December, but the decision
could depend on the outcome of the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential
election.
The tightening of the race between Democratic candidate Hillary
Clinton and her Republican rival Donald Trump has rattled
financial markets. The Fed raised borrowing costs last December
for the first time in nearly a decade.
On Wednesday, the central bank offered a fairly upbeat
assessment of the labor market, inflation and the broader
economy.
A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors
influencing last week's data and that no states had been
estimated. There was a surge last week in the unadjusted claims
for Kentucky, California and Missouri.
The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better
measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week
volatility, increased 4,750 to 257,750 last week.
The report has no bearing on October's employment report, which
is scheduled for release on Friday, as it falls outside the
survey period. According to a Reuters survey of economists,
nonfarm payrolls likely increased 175,000 last month after
rising 151,000 in September.
The unemployment rate is seen slipping one-tenth of a percentage
point to 4.9 percent.
Thursday's claims report also showed the number of people still
receiving benefits after an initial week of aid declined 14,000
to 2.03 million in the week ended Oct. 22, the lowest reading
since June 2000.
The four-week average of the so-called continuing claims fell
9,000 to 2.04 million. That was the lowest level since July
2000.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)
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