First-time jobless claims fall below 1 million for the first time since March

Another 963,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Department of Labor said Thursday.

This was the lowest number of weekly initial claims since the pandemic shut down the US economy. It is the first time in five months that fewer than 1 million have filed for first-time jobless benefits.

Economists say it’s encouraging that claims for unemployment are going down because it means people keep returning to work. That said, the persistently high claims numbers also tell us this recovery won’t be an easy or quick feat.

Continued jobless claims, which count people who have filed for unemployment benefits for a at least two weeks in a row, stood at 15.5 million.

This is a developing story. It will be updated