US Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Decline in the Week Ending October 17

On Thursday, the US Department of Labor reported that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 194,000 for the week ending Saturday, October 17, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 200,000 (originally 199,000). The four-week moving average was 197,750—a decrease of 1,000 from the prior week’s revised average of 198,750 (originally 198,500).

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 10 was 1,728,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,703,000 (originally 1,707,000). The four-week moving average was 1,711,000—an increase of 4,000 from the prior week’s revised average of 1,707,000 (originally 1,708,750).

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1% for the week ending October 10, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.