Filings for U.S. unemployment benefits were at a four-decade low over the past two weeks as sales prospects encouraged employers to maintain headcounts.
Jobless claims were 246,000 in the period ended Oct. 8, unchanged from the previous week’s level, which was revised lower, a Labor Department report showed Thursday in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for 253,000. The four-week average also fell to the lowest level since 1973.
