US Jobless Claims Totaled 232,000 in Week Ended Oct. 18

Initial applications for US jobless benefits totaled 232,000 in the week ended Oct. 18, according to the Labor Department website showing historical data for claims.

Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, came in at 1.957 million, up slightly from 1.947 million in the prior week. For initial claims, weekly data for the previous three weeks weren’t made available.