Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, an encouraging sign that the job market is slowly healing. Weekly applications fell 9,000 to 397,000, only the third time since April that the figure has dropped below 400,000.
Here are the states with the biggest increases and decreases. The state data is for the week ended Oct. 22, one week behind the national figures.
States with the biggest increases:
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California: Up 7,176, due to layoffs in the service industry
New York: Up 2,494, due to layoffs in the construction, finance, insurance and transportation industries
Illinois: Up 2,057, due to layoffs in construction, services and trade
Georgia: Up 1,642, due to layoffs in construction, services, trade and manufacturing
Pennsylvania: Up 1,579, due to layoffs in construction, retail, services, and healthcare
Tennessee: Up 1,493, due to layoffs in manufacturing and services
States with the biggest decreases:
Florida: Down 2,230, due to fewer layoffs in agriculture, manufacturing, trade, retail and services
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