By Rex Nutting
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The number of people filing initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 512,000 in the week ending Oct. 31, the lowest since January, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Initial jobless claims have been above 500,000 for 51 straight weeks. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected initial claims to fall to about 520,000. Continuing state claims fell by 68,000 to a seasonally adjusted 5.75 million, the lowest since March. The number of people claiming benefits of any kind in the week ending Oct. 17 was 9.53 million, not seasonally adjusted, up 136,000 from 9.36 million in the previous week.
