US weekly jobless claims fall to 194,000, below expectations

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell by 6,000 to 194,000 last week, below market expectations, according to US Labor Department data released Thursday.

Market expectations for initial jobless claims were 200,000 for the week ending Oct. 17.

The previous week’s figure was revised up by 1,000 to 200,000 from 199,000.

The four-week moving average, which smooths out weekly volatility, declined by 1,000 to 197,750.

Continuing claims, which reflect the number of people already receiving unemployment benefits, rose by 25,000 to 1.728 million in the week ending Oct. 10.

The previous week’s continuing claims figure was revised down by 7,000 to 1.703 million.

The four-week moving average for continuing claims increased by 4,000 to 1.711 million.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate remained unchanged at 1.1% for the week ending Oct. 10.

In September, the US economy added just 29,000 nonfarm jobs, well below forecasts of 90,000, according to an earlier Bureau of Labor Statistics report.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.2% in September from 4.1% in August.