US Jobless Claims Fall to 198,000, Lowest Level Since January

Applications for US unemployment benefits dropped last week to the lowest level since January as the labor market kept powering ahead.

Initial jobless claims fell to 198,000 in the week ending Oct. 14, according to Labor Department data out Thursday. That was below all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving unemployment benefits, rose to 1.73 million in the week ended Oct. 7. That marked the highest level since July, indicating those losing their jobs may be having more trouble finding new ones.

Thursday’s reading returned initial filings ...