US Initial Jobless Claims at 194,000, Below Forecast

U.S. initial jobless claims came in below market expectations last week.

The Labor Department said on Oct. 22 that initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled 194,000 last week. That was 6,000 below economists’ forecast of 200,000. It was also 6,000 lower than the prior week’s revised figure of 200,000.

Continuing claims, which reflect the number of people receiving benefits for a second consecutive week, totaled 1.728 million. That was up 25,000 from the prior week’s revised 1.703 million. It was also 8,000 above the market forecast of 1.72 million.

Initial jobless claims are an indicator used to gauge overheating in the U.S. labor market. An increase in claims can be interpreted as a sign that the overheated labor market is cooling.