http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,172095,00.htmlWASHINGTON — The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless aid dipped by 2,000 last week, defying Wall Street expectations for a larger fall, as the aftermath of Gulf Coast hurricanes continued to weigh on the U.S. job market, the government said on Thursday.
First-time claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 389,000 in the week ended Oct. 8 from a slightly revised 391,000 the prior week, the Labor Department (search) said.
Economists had expected initial claims to fall to 360,000 from the original Oct. 1 week reading of 390,000, a total swollen by hurricane-related claims.
A Labor Department analyst said some 75,000 first-time claims in the Oct. 8 week — unadjusted for seasonal factors — were linked to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, bringing the cumulative impact of the storms to about 438,000 claims since early September. A four-week moving average of claims, which quells weekly volatility to provide a better sense of the pace of U.S. layoffs, fell to 395,750 in the latest period from 404,500 the Oct. 1 week.