Initial jobless claims dip lower as economic recovery continues at glacial pace

(Sharecast News) - Initial jobless claims dropped last week as the US jobs market continued on its slow recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
First-time claims fell to 837,000 in the week ended 25 September, according to the Labor Department, better than both the 850,000 expected by analysts on the Street and the previous week's upwardly revised print of 870,000.

The figure marked the fifth week in a row that initial claims had come in under 1.0m after having stayed above that number ever since the coronavirus outbreak sent the US into a virtual economic standstill in mid-March.

Continuing claims fell 980,000 week-on-week to 11.77m.

However, the four-week moving average of first-time claims edged only slightly lower by 11,750 to 867,250 - far above the 200,000 average seen prior to the pandemic.

Pantheon Macroeconomics' Ian Shepherdson said: "The dip in claims to a new post-Covid low is welcome, but not definitive. Even if this reading stands, the net change in claims over the past four weeks, since the seasonal adjustment methodology was changed, is just 47,000, or 12,000 per week.

"At this pace, initial claims won't slip below the post-08 crash high, 665,000, until mid-January."