U.S weekly jobless claims drop 21,000

U.S weekly jobless claims drop 21,000

2010-10-28 22:07:24 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) – Initial claims for unemployment insurance in the U.S. dropped to 434,000 in the week ending October 23, a decrease of 21,000, the U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday.

The department's report shows the third consecutive week in which the U.S. has decreased its jobless claims, marking the lowest since early July. The 4-week moving average was 453,250, a decrease of 5,500 from the previous week's revised average of 458,750.

The report also showed that those unemployed with unemployment insurance had a rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending October 16, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate.

In addition, the jobless report showed a 122,000 decrease in the number of workers who continue to receive benefits under regular state unemployment programs with 4,356,000 during the week ending October 16. The 4-week moving average was 4,447,250, a decrease of 38,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,485,750.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Oct. 9 were in Puerto Rico (6.9 percent), Alaska (4.9), Oregon (4.1), Pennsylvania (4.1), Nevada (4.0), California (3.9), New Jersey (3.8), Connecticut (3.6), South Carolina (3.5), and Wisconsin (3.5).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Oct. 16 were in Puerto Rico (+1,115), Minnesota (+521), Wisconsin (+294), Florida (+190), and Alabama (+158), while the largest decreases were in California (-13,701), North Carolina (-6,607), New York (-6,382), Pennsylvania (-5,248), and Texas (-4,385).

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