There were 530-thousand initial jobless benefits claims filed last week, only one-thousand fewer than in the previous week.

The Labor Department reports the total number of unemployment claims for the week ending October 17th, including continuing claims, was down to about five-point-eight-million.

That's a drop of 148-thousand, the lowest level for continuing claims since March.

Economists remain concerned that high unemployment could threaten economic recovery in the U.S.

California reported the biggest jump in initial claims filed for the week ending October 17th.

The largest drops in first-time unemployment claims were filed in Wisconsin, New York state and Pennsylvania.

For the week ending October 10th, Nevada and Oregon posted the nation's highest insured jobless rates at five-point-three percent.