More Americans than expected filed for state unemployment benefits last week, underscoring continued churn in a labor market that continues to recover only gradually.
Initial jobless claims in regular state programs totaled 751,000 in the week ended Oct. 31, down from an upwardly revised 758,000 from the prior week, Labor Department data showed Thursday. On an unadjusted basis, the number of applications were little changed.
Continuing claims — or the total number of Americans claiming ongoing state unemployment assistance — fell by 538,000 to 7.29 million in the week ended Oct. 24, the sixth straight decline. Still, the number of people claiming support in a federal program that offers extended assistance increased as more Americans exhausted their regular state benefits.
The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 735,000 initial claims and 7.2 million continuing claims.
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