US: Initial jobless claims under 300,000 for first time since pandemic began

For the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of workers who have applied for the first time to receive unemployment benefits has fallen below 300,000.

In the week ending 9 October, the figure fell by 36,000 to 293,000 units, much better than the 319,000 units expected by analyst consensus.

The average for the last four weeks was 334,200 units, down from the 344,000 units of last week.

The number of workers continuing to receive unemployment benefits in the United States fell by 134,000 to 2.59 million.