U.S. initial unemployment claims fell to 194,000 for the week ended Oct. 17, beating expectations as layoffs remain near multi-decade lows.
First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly declined in the week ended October 17th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 194,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 200,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 200,000 from the 199,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With the unexpected dip, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting a multi-decade low of 189,000 in the week ended July 18th.
The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 197,750, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 198,750.
At 10 am ET, the Conference Board is due to release its report on leading economic indicators in the month of September. The leading economic index is expected to dip by 0.2 percent in September after edging down by 0.1 percent in August.
The Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the details of this month’s auctions of two-year, five-year and seven-year notes at 11 am ET.