Washington, Nov 5 (TIWN) Initial jobless claims in the United States last week fell to 2,69,000 amid continued labor shortage, hitting a fresh low in the pandemic era, the US Labor Department has reported.

In the week ending October 30, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dropped by 14,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised level of 2,83,000, according to a report released by the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  The latest figure was the lowest since March 14, 2020, when it was 256,000, the report said on Thursday. 

The four-week moving average, a method to iron out data volatility, decreased by 15,000 to 2,84,750, according to the report.  In recent months, initial jobless claims hit fresh lows in the pandemic era on multiple occasions, but the declining trend was repeatedly reversed, indicating a bumpy economic recovery. The figure rose for three weeks in a row in September amid surging Delta variant cases, Xinhua news agency reported.