Unemployment claims fall by 38,000, first drop in four weeks

New claims for unemployment benefits fell last week by 38,000 to 326,000, the first drop in four weeks, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that initial unemployment claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell 38,000 in the week ended Oct. 2 to a seasonally adjusted 326,000, from a revised 364,000 the prior week. That put initial claims close to its pandemic low of 312,000 in the week ended Sept. 4.

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims

Initial claims were 326,000 for the week ending 10/2 (-38,000).

Insured unemployment was 2,714,000 for the week ending 9/25 (-97,000).https://t.co/ys7Eg5LKAW
— U.S. Department of Labor (@USDOL) October 7, 2021

The steep drop in claims after three weeks of increases is another welcome sign that the economic drag of the delta variant may have begun to fade in September. Surging cases of COVID-19 walloped job growth and consumer confidence in August, raising serious questions about the durability of the recovery.

Read the full news release here.

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