By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits fell last week, economists at JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs estimated on Thursday, but lackluster hiring has left many on unemployment rolls.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped to a seasonally adjusted 217,000 for the week ending October 11 from 235,000 the prior week, they calculated.

A U.S. government shutdown, now in its third week due to a political standoff between Republicans and Democrats in Washington, has halted the collection, processing and publishing of official economic data.

States have, however, continued to collect the claims data and submit it to the Labor Department’s database, which remains accessible. Economists have been using the unadjusted

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