US Jobless Claims Match A Four Decade Low

The number of Americans submitting applications for jobless benefits unexpectedly declined last week to match the fewest in four decades.

Initial unemployment claims dropped by 7,000 to 255,000 in the week ended Oct. 10, a Labor Department report showed Thursday. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 270,000 applications. The decline brought the monthly average to its lowest level since December 1973.

“These numbers are pretty impressive,”said Brian Jones, senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale in New York, who correctly projected the number of applications. “Both the initial and continuing claims numbers are consistent with the fact that we have a labor market that’s fairly tight and continues to improve.”

Steady domestic demand even in the face of tepid global growth is encouraging managers to maintain headcounts. At the same time, additions to payrolls have slowed the last two months as diminished economic prospects abroad prompt some employers to limit hiring.

Jobless claims matched the low reached in July — the fewest since November 1973. Estimates in the Bloomberg survey of 45 economists for this week ranged from 255,000 to 275,000. The number of applications in the previous week was revised to 262,000 from an initially reported 263,000.

No states were estimated last week and there was nothing unusual in the data, according to the Labor Department.

Bloomberg

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