Jobless Claims Back Below 400,000

The US Department of Labor (DoL) said new claims dropped by 25,000 to 389,000 during the October 19 week from a revised 414,000 the week before.

The latest report continued the one week up, one week down pattern seen in the initial jobless claims reports this month. For the October 12 week, the claims figure shot up above 400,000 (See  See-Saw Jobless Report Back Above 400,000 Mark).

The October 19 report’s claims decrease was far steeper than Wall Street economists expected, according to Reuters’ regular poll. The economists expected a decline to 404,000.

The much watched four-week moving average, which tends to smooth out short-term volatility, was 404,000, according to the DoL. That was a decrease of 5,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 409,500.