U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Steady At 479,000 Last Week

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - U.S. weekly initial jobless claims for insurance remained steady at 479,000 during the week ending Oct. 25, according to the Labor Department on Thursday.

The number of individuals filing initial jobless claims for unemployment benefits unchanged last week but was still more than the market analysts had projected the figure to fall at 475,000.

The four-week average of initial jobless claims moved down by 5,000 to 475,500 during the week ending Oct. 25, compared to the claims at 480,500 the week prior.

The four-week average, which smooths out the weekly volatility, was at the highest level the week prior since the last recession and October 2001.

The continuing number of individuals collecting regular state unemployment benefits dropped by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.72 million in the week ending Oct. 18.

The four-week average of continuing claims increased by 28,000 to 3.71 million, which is the five-year high level, the report showed on Thursday.

Weekly claims have averaged 393,000 so far this year, compared with an average 321,000 during the complete 2007.

Today's report showed that there were 40 states and territories reported a decrease in initial jobless claims. The rest 13 registered a decline in the unemployment claims for the October 18 week.

The Labor Department report on Thursday showed the unemployment rate for workers with unemployment insurance, which tends to track the U.S. jobless rate, remained unchanged at 2.8 percent.

Last month, the unemployment rate increased to 6.1 percent, pushing up the total number of jobs cut by the firms in different sectors to 760,000 during the first nine months in 2008.