First-time jobless claims declined by 10,000 in the week ending Saturday with 390,000 claims filed, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.
It was the fifth consecutive week initial claims have dropped. Initial claims have fallen by 27,000 in the past month.
The four-week rolling average for claims filed as of Saturday was 400,000, down 5,250 from the previous revised average, the department said.
The Labor Department said October's unemployment rate was 9 percent, down from 9.1 percent in September.
The downward trend in unemployment benefit applications suggests businesses are laying off fewer workers. Still, applications need to consistently drop below 375,000 to signal sustained job gains. They haven't been at that level since February.
