- Thomas Simons, a money-market economist at Jefferies LLC
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose less than expected last week, but the figure remained at a historically low level. Initial jobless claims rose by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 259,000 in the week ended October 17, the Labor Department reported. Economists, however, had expected 265,000 new claims. At the same time claims for the October 10 week were revised up by 1,000 to 256,000, just above the 42-year low hit in July. The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out weekly volatility, declined by 2,000 to 263,250 last week, the lowest average level since December 1973. Meanwhile, the number of people continuing to receive unemployment benefits increased by 6,000 to 2.17 million in the week ended October 10.
Separately, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of previously owned homes surged more than expected in September, putting the housing market back on track for its strongest year since 2007. Home resales increased 4.7% last month to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.55 million units, compared with the market consensus of 5.38 million. The September rise came on heels of an unexpectedly weak August, when existing home sales rose to a revised 5.3 million.
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