US jobless claims fall to new coronavirus pandemic-low

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims fell to a new low since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Labor Department on Thursday.

Initial jobless claims decreased 39,000 to 547,000 last week, its lowest since March 14, 2020, when the figure was 256,000.

Analysts expected 617,000 for the week ending April 17, while the previous week was revised up by 10,000 from 576,000 to 586,000.

It was the third time during the pandemic that initial claims were below 700,000.

The world's largest economy, however, still has around 9.7 million unemployed individuals after adding 916,000 jobs last month.

The unemployment rate fell to 6% in March, from 6.2% the previous month, according to the agency.