Washington, June 4 Initial unemployment claims in the US dropped for a fifth straight week to 385,000, marking the first time the figure dipping below the 400,000 mark since the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged the labour market early last year, the Labour Department.
In the week ending May 29, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits decreased by 20,000 from the previous week's downwardly revised level of 405,000, according to a report released on Thursday by the Department's Bureau of Labour Statistics.
This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020, when it was 256,000, the report noted.
The four-week moving average, a method to iron out data volatility, decreased by 30,500 to 428,000, Xinhua news agency reported.
The latest report also revealed that the number of people continuing to collect regular state unemployment benefits in the week ending May 22 increased by 169,000 to reach 3.77 million.
Meanwhile, the total number of people claiming benefits in all programs, state and federal combined, for the week ending May 15 decreased by 366,178 to reach 15.4 million, as the country continues to grapple with the fallout of the pandemic.
In the past few weeks, over 20 states have announced plans to end the $300 weekly federal unemployment benefits ahead of their expiration date of September 6, citing labour shortage.
Some states are ending the federal aid as early as June 12.
The Bureau of Labour Statistics is expected to release the crucial monthly employment report on Friday, which will include employment data from both the private sector and the government.
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