Initial jobless claims for the week ending October 5 were a seasonally adjusted 374k, the U.S. Department of Labor reports. This is a huge increase from the previous week’s revised reading of 308k and is due to the furloughs from the Federal government shutdown that began October 1. Jobless claims for the week not seasonally adjusted were 337k.
The insured unemployment rate for the week was a seasonally adjusted 2.2%, unchanged from the prior week’s revised reading.
The number of unemployment insurance recipients, or continuing claims, was a seasonally adjusted 2.905 million, a decrease from the prior week’s revised reading of 2.921 million.
