US Jobless Benefit Claims Dropped Again Last Week

WASHINGTON - New claims for jobless benefits in the U.S. dropped again last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, as the world’s biggest economy continues its steady but uneven recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

A total of 444,000 out-of-work employees filed for unemployment compensation, down 34,000 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, although still more than twice the pre-coronavirus weekly average of 218,000 in 2019. About 48% 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. The continuing drop in the number of jobless benefit claims could presage more hiring, but U.S. employers only added 266,000 more jobs in April, down from the robust 916,000 figure in March. Nearly 10 million people remain unemployed in the U.S.