U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Pull Back Off Highest Level In Over A Year

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits saw an unexpected pullback in the week ended October 12th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 241,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's revised level of 260,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 260,000 from the 258,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the unexpected pullback, jobless claims gave back ground after reaching their highest level since hitting 261,000 in the week ended June 17, 2023.

"Initial jobless claims fell sharply in the week ended October 12, but are still being boosted by claims in states impacted by the recent hurricanes and the Boeing strike," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

She added, "Looking past these factors, we think the claims data are consistent with a labor market that has cooled but isn't collapsing, allowing the Fed to proceed with future rate cuts at a measured pace."

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 236,250, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average of 231,500.

The report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing employment assistance, also rose by 9,000 to 1.867 million in the week ended October 5th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also climbed to 1,842,750, an increase of 11,500 from the previous week's revised average of 1,831,250.

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