WASHINGTON - Initial jobless claims increased to 462,000 for the week ending Oct. 9, the highest level in four weeks, due partly to seasonal factors and the Columbus Day holiday, the Labor Department reported today.
Continuing claims fell to 4.399 million, the lowest level in almost two years.
Economists expected 445,000 initial claims and 4.450 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Initial claims for the week ending Oct. 2 were revised to 449,000 from 445,000.
With the Columbus Day holiday on Monday, two states, plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, had their initial claims estimated. Virginia provided its own initial claims estimate, a Labor Department official said.
Initial claims were higher partly based on an end-of-quarter effect, the Labor official said. Recently laid-off workers often will wait until the beginning of a new quarter, in this case Oct. 1, to file initial claims, hoping to secure slightly higher benefits, a Labor Department official said. This leads to a decrease in initial claims in the weeks prior to the end of a quarter and an increase in claims in the first weeks of a new quarter.
The four-week moving average for initial claims increased to 459,000 from 456,750 for the week ending Oct. 2. The four-week average for continuing claims fell to 4,488,500.
