WASHINGTON – Initial jobless claims decreased by 20,000 to 512,000 in the week ending Oct. 31, the lowest number of claims since January, the Labor Department reported today.
Continuing claims declined by 68,000 to 5.749 million for the week ending Oct. 24. Continuing claims have fallen for seven consecutive weeks and are at the lowest level since March 21.
Seasonal factors were causing expectations for a slight increase in initial claims, a Labor Department official said. No states or territories were estimated for this report.
Economists expected 524,000 initial claims and 5.750 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
The four-week moving average for initial claims declined to 523,750, the 10th straight weekly drop. The four-week average for continuing claims dropped to 5.886 million, its seventh consecutive decline.
Initial claims were revised higher for the week ending Oct. 24 to 532,000 from 530,000. Continuing claims were revised higher to 5.817 million from 5.797 million.
California reported 14,394 unadjusted initial claims in the week ending Oct. 24, the largest number of claims among states.
