U.S. stock index futures ticked higher following the release of the weekly jobless claims numbers and productivity data.
The Labor Department said non-farm productivity in the third quarter surged at a 9.5% annual rate, the fastest pace in six years. The consensus called for a rise of 6.4%, while productivity for the April to June period was revised higher to 6.9%. Separately, the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless insurance fell more than expected last week to a 10-month low, indicating a gradual improvement in the labor market. Initial claims dropped by 20,000 to 512,000 in the week ending October 31, with analysts’ expecting 523,000. The number of people collecting long-term unemployment benefits dropped 68,000 to 5.75 million in the week ending October 24, the lowest since March. This marks the third week that continuing claims stayed below the 6 million mark, but is likely a result of both fewer new applications and jobless workers exhausting their benefits.
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