First-time unemployment claims remain unchanged from previous week

Oct. 12 (UPI) -- The number of U.S. residents filing for unemployment benefits for the first time reached a seasonally adjusted 209,000, unchanged from the revised total from the week before, the Labor Department said in its latest statistics released Thursday.

The unemployment filings, one of the gauges that indicate the stability of the workforce and the economy, was revised up from 207,000 to 209,000 for the week ending Sept. 30. The first-time unemployment insurance filings remained under 210,000 for the fourth straight week after it sat at 221,000 for the week ending Sept. 9.

Initial filings in 2023 had been as high as 265,000 on June 17 and as low as 194,000 posted for the week ended Jan. 21.

The four-week moving average for initial claims increased 3,000 to 206,250, while the previous week was revised up slightly, 500, from the week before.

The overall advance seasonally adjusted number for everyone filing for unemployment insurance for the week ending Sept. 30 was 1,702,000, an increase of 30,000 from the previous week's revised level.

The previous week's total was revised up 8,000 to 1,672,000. The four-week moving average of total unemployment benefit filings was 1,674,250, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average.