Fewer Americans seek unemployment aid for 3rd week


October 31, 2013 at 4:21p.m.

Fewer Americans seek unemployment aid for 3rd week

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell 10,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 340,000, a sign that employers are laying off very few workers. The Labor Department said today that the four-week average rose 8,000 to 356,250, the highest since April. The 16-day partial government shutdown and backlogs in California due to computer upgrades inflated the average.