ISTANBUL 

The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims soared by 33,000 last week to 258,000, according to Labor Department data released Thursday.

That marked the highest level of initial claims since Aug. 5, 2023 when it was 258,000.

The figure came in much higher than market estimates of 231,000, while the previous week's reading was unrevised at 225,000.

The four-week moving average was 231,000, an increase of 6,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 224,250.

The US economy added 254,000 jobs in September, up from a revised 159,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2% during that period.