Initial US jobless claims for Oct. 18 at 232,000

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The number of people filing initial jobless claims in the US reached 232,000 in the week ending Oct. 18, official data released later than scheduled showed on Tuesday.

The US Labor Department unemployment benefit application data were among figures the US did not release during the recent federal government shutdown, which ended last week.

According to the department's database, the number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time reached 232,000 in the week ending Oct. 18.

In the week ending Sept. 20, the last period for which data was published before the shutdown, the number of people filing for unemployment benefits was 219,000.

The number of continuing unemployment benefit claims rose to 1.96 million in the same period from 1.95 million the previous week.

Economic data was not released due to the 43-day US government shutdown that ended on Nov. 12.