New weekly U.S. jobless claims up by 3,000, but still near historic low

Oct. 27 (UPI) -- New U.S. unemployment claims are up by 3,000 for the week ending Saturday, according to the Department of Labor. The total number of initial jobless claims for that week was 217,000.

While the jobless numbers were a bit higher than the previous week, they are still near historically low levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic and lower than the 220,000 economists expected.

The four-week moving average jobless number was 219,000, according to the Department of Labor. Continuing unemployment claims were up to 1,438,000 for the week ended Oct. 15, an increase of 55,000 from the previous week.

As new unemployment ticked up, new numbers from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed Gross National Product was up by 2.6% after two quarters of declines.

The U.S. employers added 263,000 new jobs in September. For 2022, monthly jobs created averaged 420,000 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The U.S. unemployment rate was 3.5% in September, down from 3.7%.

Stocks rose Thursday on the economic numbers news.

Despite the positive financial numbers, recession fears persist as the Federal Reserve Bank continues to hike interest rates to fight inflation. Fitch Ratings released a report Oct. 18 saying the United States would likely enter a mild recession in the spring.