Jobless claims fall to 194,000, below forecast for week ending October 17
Continuing claims rose to 1.728 million, the first step up after two releases in a tighter range
Published
Chart: US initial jobless claims
Initial jobless claims came in at 194,000 for the week ending October 17, below the 200,000 forecast and down from 200,000 the prior week.
It is the third straight week claims have stayed under 200,000, extending multi-decade lows seen in the releases for October 3 and October 10.
Continuing claims for the week ending October 10 rose to 1.728 million from 1.703 million, a step up after two prior releases that held in a narrower range between 1.710 million and 1.716 million.
The run of low initial claims suggests none of the visa-program scrutiny tied to the administration's fraud task force has shown up as layoffs. With claims now undershooting consensus rather than just matching it, the labor market looks slightly firmer than the prior two releases indicated, which leaves the case for a near-term Federal Reserve rate cut resting more on inflation trends than on labor-market weakness. Whether the tightening seen in continuing claims persists will matter for that case.
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