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Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased 3,000
to a seasonally adjusted 258,000 for the week ended Oct. 22, the
Labor Department said on Thursday.
That marked 86 straight weeks that claims have been below the
300,000 threshold, which is normally associated with a strong
job market. That is the longest stretch since 1970, when the
labor market was much smaller.
Claims for the prior week were revised to show 1,000 more
applications received than previously reported.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast first-time
applications for jobless benefits falling to 255,000 in the
latest week.
A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors
influencing last week's data and that no states had been
estimated.
The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better
measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week
volatility, rose 1,000 to 253,000 last week.
The claims report also showed the number of people still
receiving benefits after an initial week of aid fell 15,000 to
2.04 million in the week ended Oct. 15, the lowest reading since
June 2000.
The four-week average of the so-called continuing claims
declined 6,250 to 2.05 million. That was the lowest level since
July 2000. The continuing claims data covered the period of the
household survey from which the unemployment rate is calculated.
The four-week average of continuing claims fell 64,500 between
the September and October survey periods. That suggests the
unemployment rate could fall this month from 5 percent in
September.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)
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