Weekly U.S. jobless claims fall to 403,000
Weekly U.S. jobless claims fall to 403,000 (by Jeffry Bartash)
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 6,000 to 403,000 last week, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday. Initial claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 409,000 from an original reading of 404,000. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected new claims to fall to 400,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis. The average of new claims over the past four weeks fell by 6,250 to 403,000. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it smooths out volatility in the week-to-week data. The number of Americans who continue to receive regular state unemployment checks, meanwhile, dropped by 7,500 to 3.72 million in the week ended Oct. 8. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag. About 6.7 million people received some kind of state or federal benefit in the week of Oct. 1, down 124,239 from the prior week