US initial jobless claims fall to better‑than‑expected 197,000

(Sharecast News) - Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace in the week ended 26 September, according to the Labor Department, extending recent resilience in the labour market. Initial jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 197,000, better than expectations for an increase to 200,000 and in keeping with a recent run of low claim counts since hitting an almost 60-year low of 189,000 in mid July.

Continuing claims fell by 11,000 week-on-week to 1.7m, below expectations of 1.71m, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, came in at 200,000, a decrease of 2,500 from the prior week.

The Labor Department also said the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1% for the week ended 19 September, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised print.









Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com