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Initial jobless claims rise
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October 8, 1998: 9:02 a.m. ET
First-time benefit applications jump to 300,000 as labor market eases
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The number of U.S. workers seeking first-time unemployment benefits jumped in the week ended Oct. 3, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose 11,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 300,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 289,000.
The figure slightly exceeded economists' predictions' of 299,000.
The U.S. bond market opened weaker on the news, with the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond down 2/32, pushing the yield up to 4.87 percent.
The four-week moving average, which measures labor pressures during the last month and is considered a more reliable indicator of the U.S. labor market, was its lowest since February 1989. It stood at 295,750, down 3,500 from 299,250 in the previous measurement.
The number of people seeking to continue their unemployment benefits rose to 2,222,000 for the week ended Sept. 26, up from a revised 2,133,000 the week before.
The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate for the week ended Sept. 26 climbed to 1.9 percent from the prior week's unrevised rate of 1.8 percent. 
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Department of Labor
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