U.S. weekly jobless claims drop to 547,000, a new low since pandemic

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Initial jobless claims in the United States dropped to 547,000, a new low since the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the labor market early last year, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.

In the week ending April 17, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits decreased by 39,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised level of 586,000, according to a report released by the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000, the report noted.

The four-week moving average, a method to iron out data volatility, decreased by 27,750 to 651,000.

The latest report also showed that the number of people continuing to collect regular state unemployment benefits in the week ending April 10 decreased by 34,000 to reach 3.67 million.

Meanwhile, the total number of people claiming benefits in all programs -- state and federal combined -- for the week ending April 3 increased by 491,674 to 17.4 million, as the country continues to grapple with the fallout of the pandemic.

Last spring, as COVID-19 shutdowns rippled through the workforce, initial jobless claims spiked by 3 million to reach a record 3.3 million in the week ending March 21, 2020, and then doubled to reach a record 6.87 million in the week ending March 28.

After that, the number, though at record highs, has been declining overall, but the trend was reversed multiple times amid COVID-19 resurgence.

Initial jobless claims in the United States fell to revised level of 658,000 in the week ending March 20, before rising to 728,000 and 769,000 in the following weeks, indicating continued disruption to labor market recovery.