Decline in US Unemployment Benefit Applications

The decline in US unemployment benefit applications continued. Unemployment benefit applications dropped to 290 thousand last week.

Applications in the country reached 290 thousand last week after 293 thousand in the week of October 8th. While the applications for unemployment benefits in the USA were 290,000 in the week of October 16, the median expectation of the economists participating in the Bloomberg survey was that the unemployment claims would be 297 thousand. With the recovery in the economy, the demand for labor was an important factor in the decrease in unemployment benefits applications. It was observed that the recent rise in coronavirus cases did not cause layoffs. Nonfarm payrolls in the US increased by 194 thousand in September. The expectation of economists participating in the Bloomberg survey was that the employment increase would be 500 thousand in September. The employment increase, which was announced as 235 thousand in the previous month, was revised to 366 thousand. The unemployment rate in the country was recorded as 4.8 percent in September. In the Bloomberg survey, the expectation for this data was 5.1 percent.