WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday first-time claims for jobless benefits fell by 21,000 in the week ending Oct. 23.
The four-week rolling average of initial claims fell by 5,500 to 453,250.
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Waiting for a bus ride home, a man leaves a labor agency office without a job in Denver on November 6, 2009. Unemployment rates hit 10.2 percent, the first time it has surpassed 10 percent since 1983. UPI/Gary C. Caskey | License Photo
Despite losing 95,000 private sector jobs in September, the U.S. unemployment rate remained at 9.6 percent last month.
In October, first-time benefit claims have fallen in three out of four weeks. They have also fallen in eight of the past 10 weeks. The 434,000 initial claims filed is the lowest since the week ending July 10.
The department said the biggest increases in claims for the week ending Oct. 16 were reported by Puerto Rico, with 1,115 additional claims, Minnesota, which added 521 and Wisconsin, which added 294.
For the week ending Oct. 16, the biggest decrease was reported by California with a decline of 13,701, followed by North Carolina with a decline of 6,607 and New York with a decline of 6,382.
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