Jobless claims continue to slide

In the week ending October 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 751,000, a decrease of 40,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 4,000 from 787,000 to 791,000. The 4-week moving average was 787,750, a decrease of 24,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 1,000 from 811,250 to 812,250. 

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 5.3 percent for the week ending October 17, a decrease of 0.5 percentage point from the previous week's revised rate. The previous week's rate was revised up by 0.1 from 5.7 to 5.8 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 17 was 7,756,000, a decrease of 709,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up 92,000 from 8,373,000 to 8,465,000. The 4-week moving average was 9,053,250, a decrease of 1,055,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 23,250 from 10,085,750 to 10,109,000. 

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending October 10 was 22,654,453, a decrease of 415,727 from the previous week. There were 1,411,728 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2019.