US weekly jobless claims drop by nearly 100,000 to 1.01m

Washington: Applications for US unemployment benefits decreased last week following an unexpected jump, indicating the labor market’s gradual recovery is back on track as COVID-19 infections ease from a surge in the prior two months.

Initial jobless claims in regular state programmes fell by 98,000 to 1.01 million in the week ended August 22, Labor Department data showed Thursday. Continuing claims – the total number of Americans claiming ongoing unemployment assistance in those programmes – also dropped in the week ended August 15, though remained extremely elevated at 14.5 million.

The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 1 million initial claims in the latest week.