Weekly Jobless Claims Edge Down to New Pandemic-Era Low

A pedestrian walks by a Now Hiring sign outside of a Lamps Plus store in San Francisco, Calif., on June 3, 2021. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The number of workers applying for unemployment benefits in the United States inched down last week to a fresh pandemic-era low, suggesting further tightening in the labor market.

First-time filings for unemployment insurance—a proxy for layoffs—came in at 268,000 for the week ending Nov. 13, the Labor Department said in a report (pdf). That’s 1,000 fewer unemployment claims than in the prior week and the lowest level since March 2020, which saw 256,000 filings.