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Jobless claims average down, total claims approach 42-year low

October 08, 2015

The US four-week moving average of initial claims for unemployment insurance was 267,500, down 3,000 from the previous week’s average, which was revised slightly downward, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Department of Labor.

The four-week moving average decreases the volatility of the weekly numbers. Total initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ended Oct. 3 was 263,000, a decline of 13,000 from the previous week’s downwardly revised level. Claims approached a 42-year low last week, pointing to ongoing tightening in the labor market despite the recent slowdown in hiring, according to Reuters.

No special factors affected this week’s initial claims.

Claims fell more than the median forecast in Bloomberg’s survey of economists, which projected claims would fall to 274,000.

“Claims are kind of signaling the ‘all clear’ on the labor market after the employment data the last two months have been a lot more disappointing,” Tom Simons, an economist at Jefferies LLC in New York who projected 260,000 claims, told Bloomberg. Still, “while firms are not necessarily letting people go, it doesn’t mean they’re super-excited about hiring people at this point either.”