New US jobless claims again drop to 1969 levels

New filings for US unemployment aid dropped sharply last week, bringing them to levels not seen since 1969 for the second time this year, the government said Thursday. The Labor Department said 184,000 new seasonally adjusted claims for jobless aid were made last week, much less than expected and 43,000 less than the previous week's level.

Jobless claims have now dropped below their level before the Covid-19 pandemic, after spiking into the millions as businesses closed and laid off staff in March 2020, then recovering throughout much of this year as vaccines allowed normal business to resume.