Bloomberg (11/01/12) Alex Kowalski; Shobhana Chandra
Fewer Americans than forecast filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, an indication demand is strong enough to maintain current staff levels. Applications for jobless benefits fell 9,000 to 363,000 in the week ended Oct. 27, the fewest in three weeks, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecasted 370,000 claims. The weekly average of new claims over the past month fell by 1,500 to 367,250.