Financial News: U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Up Slightly Less

U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Up Slightly Less Than Expected

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly higher in the week ended October 10th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims ticked up to 199,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level of 198,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 200,000 from the 197,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Over the past several weeks, jobless claims have been nearly unchanged, hovering modestly above the multi-decade low of 189,000 in the week ended July 18th.

"Trend job growth is steady and consistent with the labor market's break-even pace of employment growth, while layoffs are low," said Sara Godfrey, Associate U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics. "Labor market data, on balance, suggest a stable labor market that can withstand higher rates."

The report said the less volatile four-week moving average also inched up to 198,500, an increase of 250 from the previous week's revised average of 198,250.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, dipped by 4,000 to 1.710 million in the week ended October 3rd.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also slipped to 1,708,750, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week's revised average of 1,710,500.

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