In the U.S. this week, 531,000 new claims were filed by people seeking unemployment insurance. The figure was significantly higher than the 515,000 claims estimated by the economists.

The claims reported this week were even higher than last week’s figures. Last week, the initially reported figures for claims stood at 514,000 which were later revised to 520,000.

The four week average went down by 750 to be recorded at 532,250 claims, a value which averaged out the peaks and lows in the weekly figures. Unemployment insurance is presently being given to 4.1% of the total eligible population, which is down from last week’s figures by 0.1 percentage points.

In the week which ended on October 10, continuing claims declined by 98,000 to stand at 5.92 million, with the smoothened four week average being 6.03 million.

Citing seasonal factors, labor officials had thought that the initial claims would go down by 59,000. But a reduction of only 49,000 unadjusted claims was reported. This, on the whole, led to the rise in the value of the seasonally adjusted figures.

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