Weekly Jobless Claims Fall to Pandemic-Era Low

A man completes a job application before interviewing and later being hired on the spot for a job as a line cook during a job fair in Torrance, Calif., on June 23, 2021. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

The number of U.S. workers filing for unemployment fell to a pandemic-era low last week, adding to evidence of continued labor market recovery.

First-time filings for unemployment insurance, a proxy for layoffs, came in at 348,000 for the week ending Aug. 14, a drop of 29,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 377,000, the Labor Department said in a statement (pdf).