U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Dip From Upwardly Revised Level

(RTTNews) - The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly dipped from an upwardly revised level in the week ended October 3rd.

The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 197,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level of 199,000.

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

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

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also slipped to 198,000, a decrease of 2,500 from the previous week's revised average of 200,500.

Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, rose by 17,000 to 1.716 million in the week ended September 26th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims still fell to 1,711,000, a decrease of 12,250 from the previous week's revised average of 1,723,750 to 1,723,250.

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

Last Friday, the Labor Department released a more closely watched report showing employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in the month of September.

The report said non-farm payroll employment rose by 29,000 jobs in September after jumping by a downwardly revised 133,000 jobs in August.

Economists had expected employment to increase by 85,000 jobs compared to the surge of 162,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2 percent in September from 4.1 percent in August. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged.