Initial jobless claims higher than expected

(Sharecast News) - Initial jobless claims fell from a revised print of 849,000 to 840,000 in the week ended 3 October, shy of expectations for a reading of 825,000.
The reading marked the sixth straight week that saw claims hover at around 800,000, indicating a potential slowdown in the US labour market recovery.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in mid-March, nearly 63.6m Americans have applied for jobless benefits, according to figures from the Department of Labor.

On the other hand, continuing claims dropped by just over 1.0m to hit 10.98m.

The four-week moving average decreased by 13,250 to 857,000, while the previous week's average was revised up by 3,000 to 870,250.

Elsewhere, the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate for the week ended 26 September was 7.5%, a decrease of 0.7% from the previous week's upwardly revised rate.