Jobless claims decline by nearly 200,000, reaching another pandemic low

The number of Americans filing new jobless claims has just significantly declined to again reach the lowest level of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Labor Department said Thursday that 576,000 Americans filed new jobless claims last week, a decline of 193,000 claims from the week prior. This was the lowest level of new weekly jobless claims since March 2020, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Last month, the number of weekly jobless claims also declined to the lowest level of the pandemic up until that point by sinking to 684,000, although the number unexpectedly rose the following week. But the most recent U.S. jobs report showed the economy added 916,000 jobs in March, easily surpassing economists expectations, while the unemployment rate declined to six percent.

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The same morning these latest jobless claims were released on Thursday, the Commerce Department also said that retail sales soared 9.8 percent in March, the biggest jump since May 2020.

"Stellar jobless claims plus off the charts retail sales packs a positive one two punch and sends strong signals that the economy is full steam ahead toward recovery," eTrade managing director of investment strategy Mike Loewengart told The Washington Post. "While we haven't necessarily seen the market move on strong economic beats or misses, it's certainly a step in the right direction."