US jobless claims hit post-pandemic low

The number of Americans filing for unemployment claims for the first time dropped quite sharply during the preceding week hitting their lowest level since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the Department of Commerce, so-called initial jobless claims fell by 97,000 to reach 684,000.

Economists had penciled-in a smaller decline to 740,000.

That followed an upwards revision to the previous week's figures of 11,000 to 781,000.

The four-week moving average meanwhile slipped by 13,000 to reach 736,000.

Secondary unemployment claims, those which are not being filed for the first time, and which reference the week ending on 13 March, dropped by 264,000 to 3.87m.