US initial jobless claims fall by 1,000

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims decreased modestly by 1,000 to 268,000 last week, the US Labor Department said Thursday.

The figure is the sixth consecutive weekly decline below 300,000 and “the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020, when it was 256,000,” it said.

Analysts expected the figure to come in at 260,000 for the week ending Nov. 13. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 267,000 to 269,000.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.6% in October, down from 4.8% in September, according to the Labor Department.

The US added 531,000 jobs in October, but 7.4 million people are still out of work as of last month in the world’s largest economy where more than 22 million workers lost jobs in March and April of 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.