Jobless claims rise less than expected

More Americans filed for unemployment benefits in the latest week, but less than economists expected, raising some hopes for the nation's labor market.

The Labor Department reported that jobless claims rose by 6,000 in the week ended Oct. 1 to 401,000 from a revised 395,000 the previous week. Economists polled by Reuters had expected claims to jump to 410,000.


"Perhaps employers are going about regular business and tired of the media gloom," chief economic strategist Andrew Wilkinson of Miller Tabak told Reuters.

The 4-week moving average, which smoothes out wrinkles in the data, dropped 4,000 to 414,000.

Claims remain above the key 400,000 level, however, although not too far above. Economists say claims need to drop below that level for an extended period to show any improvement in unemployment.

Thursday's claims data do not fall within the period covered by the employment report for September that's due Friday. Economists predict the economy created 60,000 jobs last month, a pittance but still higher than the zero job growth in August, Reuters reported.

Reuters also said problems adjusting first-time applications for seasonal adjusments caused a big drop in claims in the prior week.


By Patrick Rizzo