Jobless claims unchanged last week

Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits were a seasonally adjusted 479,000 in the week ended October 25, matching the revised level from the prior week.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast 475,000 new claims versus a previously reported count of 478,000 the week before.

A Labor Department official said there were no special factors influencing the report.

Texas reported 7,500 hurricane-related claims, the Labor Department official said, adding that the impact of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav on the data was tailing off.

The four-week average of new jobless claims, a better gauge of underlying labor trends because it irons out week-to-week volatility, declined to 475,500 from 480,500 the week before. It was the highest reading since late September.

This measure has mounted steadily as a severe U.S. housing slump roiled financial markets and spread to the wider economy, forcing mass layoffs as firms slash costs to offset weaker income and protect profits.

The number of people remaining on the benefits roll after drawing an initial week of aid fell 12,000 to a below-forecast 3.715 million in the week ended October 18, the most recent week for which data is available.

Analysts estimated so-called continued claims would be 3.74 million. It was the 27th straight week that claims were above three million in a sign that the ailing economy is making it harder for U.S. workers to find employment.

(Reporting by Alister Bull; Editing by James Dalgleish)