The number of people filing an initial claim for U.S. jobless aid fell by a larger-than-expected 25,000 last week, the government said on Thursday in a report seen as a good sign for job growth. First-time claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell to 329,000 in the week ended Oct. 16 from a revised 354,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said. The price of Treasury bonds ticked down after the report, though the benchmark 10-year yield was at a six-month low on the back of continuing concerns about oil prices weakening the economy. U.S. stock futures rose on the larger-than-expected drop in claims, while the dollar was little changed. "These are pretty good numbers," said Patrick Fearon, an economist for A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis. "This is a level that is consistent with a much improved job market compared with where we were say a year ago."
The fall was steeper than Wall Street expectations for a drop to 345,000 from the prior week's originally reported 352,000. The decline brought initial claims to the lowest level since the week ended Sept. 4. A year ago, initial claims were at 391,000. Hurricanes, which battered Florida and other southern states during August and September, were not a significant factor behind the drop in initial claims, a Labor Department analyst said. He said there was no specific explanation for the drop in initial claims, but noted that when a week includes a federal holiday "it is not uncommon to be a bit more volatile." Columbus Day fell on Monday, Oct. 11. A four-week moving average of initial claims, which smooths short-term volatility, dropped to 348,250 from 353,750, a level that economists associate with moderate hiring. The number of people who remained on state unemployment rolls after claiming an initial week of jobless aid slipped to 2.80 million in the week ended Oct. 9 from 2.81 million in the prior week./////