Initial Jobless Claims Fall to 514,000

WASHINGTON (TheStreet) -- With breathless commentary of the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting 10,000 -- along with blowout earnings showings from investment banks JPMorgan Chase(JPM Quote) and Goldman Sachs(GS Quote) in the background -- the Labor Department offered a more sobering reality on Thursday: over half a million people filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week.

Still, according to the department's most recent weekly jobless-claims snapshot, the number of first-timers applying for benefits surprisingly dropped to its lowest levels since January, with data showing 10,000 fewer initial claims last week at a seasonally adjusted 514,000. The total also marks the fifth drop in six weeks, as economists expected initial claims figures at 525,000.

The previous week's totals were also revised higher to 524,000 from 521,000.

The Labor Department's four-week moving average figure on initial claims, which tends to iron out wild week to week fluctuations, also fell by 9,000.

According to the report, Florida saw the biggest drop in initial claims in the first week of October, while Pennsylvania saw the largest jump, due mostly to layoffs in construction and primary metals, among other industries.

The number of those continuing to file for unemployment benefits also dipped below 6 million for the first time since March, falling to 5.99 million, or by 75,000, for the week ending October 3. Still, that move may hint more that workers are depleting their current benefits rather than finding jobs.

Recently in October, both Dell(DELL Quote) and Thermo Fisher Scientific(TMO Quote) announced layoff plans at plants in North Carolina and New Hampshire, respectively.

-- Written by Sung Moss in New York

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