Jobless claims fall to another pandemic low

Fewer than 500,000 people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department reported. That’s the lowest weekly number since the pandemic struck 14 months ago. Jobless claims fell by nearly 17 percent from the prior week’s total of 590,000.

Why the change? The job market is improving with the reopening of more businesses. The economy grew last quarter at a vigorous 6.4 percent annual rate, and the current quarter is expected to be even better.

Dig deeper: Listen to Sarah Schweinsberg’s report on The World and Everything in It about business owners’ difficulties filling job positions.