Jobless claims fall to lowest level in nearly a month

Source: Yahoo! Finance

Updated Thu, October 24, 2024 at 9:41 AM EDT


Weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week in a sign that turnover in the labor market remains low.

New data from the Department of Labor showed 227,000 initial jobless claims were filed in the week ending Oct. 19, down from 241,000 the week prior and below the 242,000 economists had expected, per Bloomberg data.

Thursday's data shows claims have reversed an upward trend seen in September that had brought the metric to its highest levels in more than a year. Economists believe the move lower in jobless claims in part reflects a recovery from recent weather disruptions in the data.

"Claims in some states impacted by Hurricane Helene continued to retreat from their recent highs, although claims in Florida rose, likely a result of Hurricane Milton," Oxford Economics senior US economist Nancy Vanden Houten wrote in a note to clients on Thursday. "With the latest week's decline, claims are in line with pre-hurricane levels and consistent with a labor market that continues to be characterized by few layoffs."

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jobless-claims-fall-to-lowest-level-in-nearly-a-month-132711944.html