The U.S. jobs market edged closer to its pre-pandemic self last week as initial jobless claims totaled just 406,000,
The U.S. Labor Department also reported Thursday that, while that level is still well above the norm before COVID-19 struck last March, it is the closest to the previous trend since the crisis began.
In a separate report, the Commerce Department left its initial estimate on first-quarter gross domestic product unchanged at 6.4%
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for 425,000 initial jobless claims at the second GDP reading to show 6.6% growth.
For the week ended March 7, 2020, just before the pandemic became a factor, claims totaled 212,000. As of May 23, 2020, claims totaled nearly 1.9 million.