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Initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 6,000 to
a seasonally adjusted 212,000 for the week ended Oct. 19, the
Labor Department said on Thursday. Data for the prior week was
upwardly revised to 218,000.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims edging higher
to 215,000 in the latest week. The Labor Department said no
states had claims estimated last week.
The overall decrease was despite an ongoing strike by about
48,000 workers at General Motors. While striking workers are not
eligible for unemployment benefits, the work stoppage has
affected production, impacting non-striking employees at
suppliers.
The United Auto Workers union reached a tentative agreement with
the Detroit automaker last week on a new four-year-contract but
will remain on strike until members complete a vote on the
proposal by Friday.
The four-week moving average of initial claims, considered a
better gauge of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week
volatility, declined 750 to 215,000 last week.
The claims report also showed the number of people receiving
benefits after an initial week of aid fell 1,000 to 1.682
million for the week ended Oct. 12. The four-week moving average
of the so-called continuing claims increased 6,500 to 1.677
million.
(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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