US: Initial jobless claims fall to 258K versus 255K expected

Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs in US, decreased by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 258,000 in the week ended Oct. 21, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Still the reading came in above expectations of 255,000 new claims. Claims for the week ended Oct. 14 were revised to 261,000 from an initially estimated 260,000.

Jobless claims touched the lowest level in more than four decades in the week ended Sep 30.     

Continuing jobless claims decreased by 15,000 to 2,039,000 in the week ended Oct. 14. That was the lowest level since June 2000.