US jobless claims at post-recession lows in October

Initial jobless claims fell to 255k in the week ending October 3, printing lower than both our (265k) and consensus expectations (270k) in a return to the post-recession low first reached on July 18. Prior-week claims were revised down 1k to 262k, and the four-week moving average declined to 265k (previous: 267k) in the latest week.

The Labor Department reported no special factors in this morning's report. Continuing jobless claims for the week ending October 3 declined to a fresh post-recession low in this morning's report, to 2.158mn from 2.208mn last week. That brought the four-week moving average down to 2.201mn (previous: 2.223mn) but kept the insured unemployment rate unchanged at 1.6%.

"With initial and continuing claims at multi-year lows, US labor market separations continue to suggest domestic economic activity remains solid", says Barclays.