US weekly jobless claims slide to 290,000 — setting a fresh pandemic-era low

Filings for unemployment insurance slid again last week, placing them at another pandemic-era low.

Jobless claims reached 290,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The median estimate from economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a slight increase to 300,000 claims. The print marked a third consecutive decline.

The previous week's total was revised to 296,000 from 293,000.

Continuing claims — which count Americans filing for ongoing unemployment insurance benefits — dipped to 2.48 million for the week that ended October 9. That beat the median estimate of 2.55 million claims. The print also placed continuing claims at another pandemic-era low.

Claims resumed their slide to fresh lows last week after hovering at elevated levels through much of September. Weekly claims are still higher than the pre-crisis average of about 200,000, and continuing claims have yet to return to their 2019 lows of about 1.7 million. Still, the steady decline suggests more Americans are finding work, and that fewer are being laid off.