English
US jobless claims fell more than expected last week
Fewer Americans submitted new applications for unemployment benefits last week amid a drop in Covid-19 injuries, but the near-term job market prospects were clouded after winter storms severely damaged parts of the southern United States in the middle of this month.
The US Labor Department said today, Thursday, that the total number of jobless claims submitted for the first time decreased to an average level in light of seasonal factors, which reached 730,000 for the week ending February 20, compared to 841,000 in the previous week.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected 838,000 applications in the most recent week.
Although orders have declined from the record high of 6.867 million recorded last March, when the pandemic hit American shores, they remain above the peak of 665,000 recorded during the Great Recession between 2007 and 2009.
