US jobless claims hover near lows in late October

US jobless claims jumped to 276k in the week ending October 31 (previous: 260k), modestly above forecast (260k) and consensus (262k) expectations. The 4-week aggregate printed higher, at 263k (previous: 259k), but continues to remains quite low from a historical perspective. Continuing jobless claims for the week ending October 24 rose to a similar amount, to 2.163mn (previous: 2.146mn), yet the 4-week aggregate fell to 2.162mn (previous: 2.173mn).The insured unemployment rate held steady at 1.6%.

The Labor Department reported no special factors in this week's report, and the slightest uptick in claims is in line with the historical volatility of both series. With initial and continuing jobless claims almost near decade lows, separations data continue to point to solid labor market conditions.

"We look for nonfarm payroll gains of 175k and an unemployment rate of 5.0% in tomorrow's October employment report", says Barclays.