New applications for unemployment benefits rose to 260,000 in the second week of October, the Labor Department reported Thursday, up 13,000 from the lowest level in four decades the week before.
The increase in claims was more than the 4,000 uptick private-sector forecasters had projected. While claims remain reassuringly low, they are slightly off the red-hot pace early in the month.
Scarce jobless claims are viewed as a positive sign for the economy, because claims represent layoffs. Jobless claims, which are released weekly, can give investors and policymakers a high-frequency indicator of the health of the jobs market.
Net payroll job growth has been strong recently, averaging 192,000 over the past three months. While that is a slower pace of job growth than was the norm in recent years, it is more than high enough to keep the unemployment rate trending down.
At 260,000, claims also remain well below the level that economists calculate is needed to keep employment growing and the unemployment rate dropping, namely around 300,000. Over the past month, new claims have averaged 251,750, and claims haven’t hit the 300,000 mark in 85 weeks, the longest such streak since 1970.
