U.S. initial jobless claims fall to 194,000

On October 22, the Labor Department reported 194,000 seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims for the week ended October 17. [1]

Preliminary data

That is 6,000 below the previous total, revised to 200,000. [1]

Two distinct periods

Continuing claims reached 1.728 million, up 25,000, for the week ended October 10. They cover a different week. [1]

Below expectations

Reuters corroborates the figures and notes that economists it surveyed expected 200,000 initial claims. Low layoffs coexist with limited hiring. [2]

A partial measure

Reuters notes that benefits do not cover everyone without work: some recent graduates are ineligible and some long-term unemployed people have exhausted their benefits. Claims therefore do not measure all unemployment on their own. [2]