US Jobless Benefit Claims Drop for 5th Straight Week
Voice of America
New claims for jobless benefits in the United States dropped last week for the fifth straight week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, as the world’s biggest economy continues its marked recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
A total of 385,000 out-of-work employees filed for unemployment compensation, down 20,000 from the revised figure of the week before, the agency said. The figure was the lowest total since mid-March 2020 when the pandemic first swept into the country and marked the first time the weekly total had dropped below 400,000 in more than a year. Nearly 52% of U.S. adults have now been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, boosting the economic recovery, although the pace of inoculations has dropped from its peak a few weeks ago. Officials in many states are now offering a variety of incentives to get people inoculated, including entry into lucrative lotteries. The continuing drop in the number of jobless benefit claims could presage more hiring. Analysts are awaiting the May hiring report, set for release on Friday. U.S. employers added only 266,000 more jobs in April, down from the robust 916,000 figure in March. Nearly 10 million people remain officially unemployed in the U.S.