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The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, pushing the average over the past month to the lowest level in eight years and signaling that employers are hanging on to workers as the economy improves.

Job openings in the U.S. climbed to a 13-year high in August as employers gained confidence about the outlook for demand in the world’s biggest economy.

FedEx Corp. said a ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court that, under state law, its drivers are employees rather than independent contractors applies to a business practice it hasn’t been using since 2011.

The trade deficit in the U.S. shrank in August to the lowest level in seven months as exports edged up to a record.

Service industries grew in September, capping the strongest quarter of expansion in more than 10 years for the biggest part of the U.S. economy.

West Texas Intermediate oil fell below $90 for the first time in 17 months amid signs that supplies from Russia, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. are outstripping demand.

The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, a sign the job market is sustaining progress.

Manufacturing cooled in September following the strongest rate of growth in three years as U.S. factories settled into a more sustainable expansion that will spur the economy.

Companies hired 213,000 workers in September as the labor market continued to strengthen, a private report based on payrolls showed.