Weekly Jobless Claims Report

Texas initial jobless claims for the week ending Oct. 17 declined to 20,228 – a 2,252 decrease from the previous week’s 22,480. The four-week moving average (a more consistent measure) for initial claims rose to 20,924. Continued claims in the state continued to increase, reaching 249,225 from last week’s 241,201.

Nationally, initial claims were up 11,000 to reach a figure of 531,000. According to the Dept. of Labor, continued claims in the week ending Oct. 17 dropped to 5,923,000 from the previous week’s 6,021,000. Continued claims are 58 percent higher than they were this time last year.