Jobless Claims Decline Further Last Week

The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims continued to fall last week to 473,000, a drop of 34,000 from the prior week's revised level, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.

The number was below expectations of 500,000.

The continued downward trend brings the number to its lowest level since March 14, 2020, when it stood at 256,000. The previous week's level was revised up by 9,000 from 498,000 to 507,000. The four-week moving average was 534,000, a decrease of 28,250 from the previous week's revised average. That is also the lowest level since March 14, 2020, when it was 225,500.

Economists and Wall Street were closely watching the number after last week's disappointing monthly jobs report for April. Instead of the 1 million new jobs that had been forecast, the number came in at a paltry 266,000.