U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Show Modest Decrease
(RTTNews) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged lower in the week ended October 15th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The report showed initial jobless claims slipped to 214,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised level of 226,000.
The dip surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 230,000 from the 228,000 originally reported for the previous week.
"Initial claims in Florida reversed some of the prior week's gain following Hurricane Ian," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 212,250, an increase of 1,250 from the previous week's revised average of 211,000.
The report also showed continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, rose by 21,000 to 1.385 million in the week ended October 8th.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims inched up to 1,365,000, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average of 1,362,750.
"While there have been some signs of a loosening in labor market conditions, the job market overall remains tight," Vanden Houten said. "Even as the economy slows, employers appear to be reluctant to lay off workers that they have struggled to hire and retain."
She added, "We don't look for claims to fall much below current levels, but we don't look for a significant rise in claims or unemployment either until we enter a recession in 2023."
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