Jobless claims fall to 290,000, lowest since start of pandemic

The number of new applications for unemployment benefits fell 6,000 last week to 290,000, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.

In a positive sign for the economic recovery, Thursday’s jobless claims number was less than forecasters’ expectations of 300,000. It also represents the fewest weekly claims for unemployment since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

"All this signals that most employers don’t need or want to shed workers. It is quite the contrary with job openings remarkably high," said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate. "With the nation’s unemployment rate at 4.8%, and the job market regarded as tight in many markets and sectors, the headwinds of supply chain congestion and high inflation threaten to make further significant job market improvement hard to come by."

The September jobs report, released earlier this month, was a disappointment with just 194,000 new jobs.

While the unemployment rate has been falling and is now at 4.8%, that figure is still well above the 3.5% rate before the pandemic. There are still millions of fewer jobs than in February 2020.

Another economic indicator being closely watched and analyzed by economists is the current rate of inflation.