Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

FILE - In this Sept. 22, 2021, record photo, prospective employers and occupation seekers interact during a occupation just successful the West Hollywood conception of Los Angeles. California has been averaging much than 100,000 caller jobs each period since February. New information released Friday, Oct. 22, 2021, by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows California is present tied with Nevada for the highest unemployment complaint successful the state astatine 7.5%. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

WASHINGTON – The fig of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to a caller pandemic debased past week, different motion the occupation marketplace is healing aft past year's coronavirus recession.

Jobless claims dropped by 14,000 to 269,000 past week. Since topping 900,000 successful aboriginal January, the play applications person fallen much oregon little steadily ever since and are gradually moving toward prepandemic levels of astir 220,000 a week.

Overall, 2.1 cardinal Americans were collecting unemployment checks the week of Oct. 23 — down from 7.1 cardinal a twelvemonth earlier erstwhile the system was inactive reeling from the coronavirus outbreak.

The four-week mean of claims, which smooths retired play ups and downs, dropped beneath 285,000, besides a pandemic low.

The occupation marketplace has been rebounding since the pandemic struck the U.S. system successful the outpouring of 2020. In March and April of that year, employers slashed much 22 cardinal jobs arsenic governments ordered lockdowns and consumers and workers stayed location arsenic a wellness precaution.

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Government alleviation checks and the rollout of vaccines person fixed consumers the assurance and fiscal wherewithal to resume spending — truthful overmuch truthful that companies person scrambled to support up with surging demand. They kick they can't find workers to capable their occupation openings — a adjacent grounds 10.4 cardinal successful August — and are being forced to rise wages, connection signing bonuses and amended benefits and moving conditions.

The system has recovered 17 cardinal of the jobs mislaid to the pandemic, and economists expect Friday's jobs study to amusement that it regained different 400,000 successful October. But the United States is inactive 5 cardinal jobs abbreviated of wherever it stood successful February 2020.

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