?States reported that 228,000 workers filed for new unemployment benefits during the week ending Oct. 8, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week’s level and just over the pre-pandemic average of 218,000.
The number of workers continuing to claim unemployment benefits—1.3 million—has been steadily rising this year but is still well below the pre-pandemic average of 1.7 million. The consistently low number of jobless claims comes amid efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool the economy and bring down inflation, which is running near its highest levels since the early 1980s. Inflation rose 0.4 percent in September.