The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, but the total number of those collecting benefits rose to its highest level in almost three years. The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims decreased 15,000 to 227,000 in the seven days to October 19th, well below the 242,000 median forecast of economists polled by Bloomberg. A jump of 4,275 in filings in Florida was offset by significant decreases in Georgia, North Carolina, New York, and Texas, as well as in Tennessee, Ohio and Michigan. The four-week moving average crept up 2,000 to 238,500, while continuing claims, reported with a one-week lag, rose 28,000 to 1.897m, the most since November 13th 2021. “The underlying trends in continuing claims suggest it’s gradually becoming harder for workers to find new job opportunities,” said Nationwide Financial Markets Economist Oren Klachkin. “However, we’re far from a recession type of environment. Simply put, claims aren’t near levels that make us worried about the labor market.”
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