Overview
- Initial unemployment claims totaled 232,000 for the week ending Oct. 18, up from 219,000 in the last pre-shutdown report and above the 223,000 Dow Jones consensus.
- Continued claims rose to 1.957 million, an increase of 10,000 from the prior week and the highest level since early August.
- Weekly initial-claims figures for the three preceding weeks were not published during the shutdown, creating a temporary gap in high-frequency labor indicators.
- The Oct. 18 reading sits near the period used for monthly employment surveys, complicating interpretation of upcoming jobs data.
- The Labor Department updated schedules show the September employment report will be released Thursday, while analysts tracked by FactSet expect roughly 58,000 payroll gains and a 4.3% unemployment rate with timing of other delayed releases still unclear.