US initial jobless claims rise to 217,000
Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated pace in the week ended 22 October, increasing by 3,000 from the prior week's unrevised level to a total of 217,000.
According to the Labor Department, the four-week moving average came to 219,000, an increase of 6,750 from the previous week's unrevised average.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate came to 1.0% for the week ended 15 October, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ended 15 October were in Missouri, Tennessee, Hawaii, Iowa, and Mississippi, while the largest decreases were in Florida, New York, California, Texas, and Puerto Rico.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com