WASHINGTON - Initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 514,000 for the week ending Oct. 10, the lowest level since January, the Labor Department reported today.
Continuing claims fell by 75,000 to 5.992 million for the week ending Oct. 3, dropping below 6 million for the first time since March. Continuing claims have fallen for four consecutive weeks.
Initial claims, which declined to the lowest level since Jan. 3, were revised to 524,000 from 521,000 for the week ending Oct. 3. Continuing claims for the week ending Sept. 26 were revised to 6.067 million from the 6.040 million initially reported last week.
Economists had expected 525,000 initial claims and 6.01 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate provided by Thomson Reuters.
Seasonal factors expected initial claims to increase last week because of an end-of-quarter effect, a Labor Department official said. Some workers can see slightly better unemployment benefits by delaying their unemployment filing until the start of a new quarter. This seasonal condition usually means claims drop in the weeks just prior to the end of a quarter and rise in the weeks beginning a new quarter.
The four-week moving average of initial jobless claims, a less volatile figure, decreased by 9,000 to 531,500. The four-week average for continuing claims has dropped for three straight weeks to 6.082 million.
