The U.S. labor market remained strong as September ended, the Labor Department said on Thursday, with weekly jobless claims at a recent low.
Initial filings for jobless benefits totaled 207,000 for the week ended Sept. 30, up just 2,000 from the previous period and below the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 210,000.
Continuous claims, trailing a week behind, were little changed at 1.664 million, below FactSet’s estimate of 1.68 million. The four-week moving average of volatility-reducing claims fell to 208,750, a decline of 2,500.
Following the report, stock market futures added to losses, while Treasury yields rose. Dow futures shed about 100 points, while the benchmark 10-year benchmark yielded 4.76%, up nearly 3 basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, on the session.
The report comes at a critical time for the economy as the Federal Reserve considers the future of monetary policy. Central bank officials worry that continued tightness in the labor market could put upward pressure on inflation and call for additional interest rate hikes.
Earlier this week, the Labor Department announced an unexpected increase in job openings.
However, ADP said Wednesday that private payrolls grew by only a net 89,000, below Wall Street expectations.
All the data comes just ahead of Friday’s crucial nonfarm payrolls report, which is expected to show an increase of 170,000 in September, up from 187,000 in August.
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