US weekly jobless claims fall in 1st report since gov’t shutdown

The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits dropped in the week ended Nov. 15, demonstrating no increase in layoffs.

Data released by the US Department of Labor, in the first official report issued since the 43-day government shutdown, revealed that initial jobless claims fell by 8,000 to 220,000 applications for the week.

This figure was lower than the expected 230,000. The decrease followed the last official pre-shutdown report, which showed the number of claims reaching 219,000 applications.

The report also indicated that the less volatile four-week moving average slumped by 3,000 to 224,250, versus the previous week's revised average.