Jobless claims fall to 290K, reaching new post-lockdown low

New applications for jobless benefits fell to a new post-lockdown low of 290,000 last week, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department.

In the week ending Oct. 16, the seasonally adjusted total of initial claims for unemployment insurance fell by 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 296,000. Claims reached a new lowest level since March 14, 2020, when 256,000 Americans applied for jobless aid amid the onset of the pandemic.

Without adjusting for an expected seasonal decline of 18,500 claims, applications totaled 256,304 last week, a decline of 24,293.

“Claims hit a new pandemic low of 290,000, but that number is even more impressive given seasonal adjustments were working against it due to the Monday holiday last week. All things being equal, we’re on track to return to pre-pandemic layoff levels by year’s end,” said Robert Frick, corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union.

Jobless claims have fallen through October after rising amid the emergence of the COVID-19 delta variant, which derailed the labor market’s recovery from the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. The steady declines have come as COVID-19 cases continue to fall from what appeared to be the peak of the delta surge in September.

There were roughly 3.3 million Americans on some form of jobless aid as of the week ending Oct. 2, the most recent for which data is available. The number of unemployment aid recipients fell by roughly 369,000 from the last week of September and by more than 20 million since the same week one year ago.

President Biden and Democrats have been facing growing criticism about the state of the economy from Republican lawmakers, who are attempting to pin hiring troubles, high inflation and other pandemic-related road bumps on the president’s economic policy. Biden and Democrats counter that their trillions of dollars in proposed social services and climate programs, along with the tax cuts to pay for them, are essential to improving the long-term strength of the economy.

Even so, some moderate Democrats who were long wary of spending trillions more after the $1.9 trillion March stimulus bill have balked at the price tag and pushed for cuts. The haggling over Biden’s proposal has created a rift between moderates and progressives, though party leaders are hopeful to strike a deal on a broad framework by the end of the week.