The data from
the Labour Department showed on
Thursday that the number of applications for unemployment unexpectedly declined last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped by 12,000 to 216,000 for the week that ended October 26. This marked the lowest weekly total since mid-May. Economists had forecast
230,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week
were revised upwardly to 228,000 from the original estimate of 227,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims fell to 236,500 from
an upwardly revised 238,750 (from 238,500) in the previous week. This was the
first drop in four weeks and represented the lowest count in three weeks.
As for
continuing claims, they decreased to 1,862,000 from a downwardly revised
1,888,000 (from 1,897,000) in the previous week. Economists
had predicted continuing jobless claims of 1,890,000.