US weekly jobless claims slide to new pandemic low of 281,000

• Weekly jobless claims dropped to 281,000 last week, marking a new pandemic-era low.
• Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected filings to stay flat at 290,000.
• Continuing claims slid to 2.24 million for the week that ended October 16, also beating estimates.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance fell again last week, extending a steady decline through the fall.

Jobless claims totaled 281,000 last week, the Labor Department announced Thursday morning. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected claims to be unchanged at 290,000. The print marked a fourth straight decline and placed claims at a new pandemic-era low.

The previous week's count was revised to 291,000 from 290,000.

Continuing claims – which track Americans filing for ongoing unemployment benefits – slid to 2.24 million for the week that ended October 16. That beat the median estimate of 2.42 million claims and also marked a new pandemic low.

This story is breaking, check back soon for updates.