Weekly Jobless Claims Rise Again Despite Minimal Eligibility

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose for a second straight week last week, despite the number of eligible Americans remaining very low. The claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid increased 29,000 to 2.38 million in the week ended Oct. 18.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 287,000 for the week ending Oct. 25.

The four-week moving average of claims, which is widely considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, still ticked down a slight 250 to 281,000. Claims at these levels typically suggest a strengthening labor market, but the rolling average still includes brighter data that is backloaded.

A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors influencing the state level data.

In a bit of a twist, the Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that would end its bond-buying, money-printing program known as quantitative easing. The economy missed both inflation and employment marks repeatedly cited by the Fed, but decided to end the program, nonetheless.

The so-called continuing claims data covered the period for the household survey from which the unemployment rate for October will be calculated.

Continuing claims fell 58,000 between the September and October survey periods, suggesting a decline in the jobless rate. The unemployment rate fell below 6 percent in September for the first time since July 2008, but it is widely understood to be a product of Americans leaving the workforce, both for retirement reasons and because they have simply given up looking for gainful employment.