US weekly jobless claims continue to fall and point to steady labor market recovery

The US weekly jobless claims fell to the lowest in 19 months in the week ending October 16, adding to signals that the labor market is continuing to recover from crisis induced by coronavirus pandemic.

The number of Americans filling new claims for state unemployment benefits fell 6,000 last week to 290,000, the lowest since mid-March 2020, when Covid-19 pandemic started to bite and also remain below 300,000 for the second straight week.

Continuous decline from April 2020 record high at 6.1 million, brings the number of jobless claims to the range of 250,000 to 300,000 that is seen as consistent with a healthy labor market.

Continuing claims which measure the number of unemployed people who qualify for benefits under unemployment insurance, extended decline from May 2020 peak at 24.9 million, hitting 2.48 million, compared to 2.60 million previous week.