US New Unemployment Claims at 540,000... Lowest Since COVID-19 Outbreak (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The U.S. Department of Labor announced on the 22nd (local time) that the number of new unemployment insurance claims in the U.S. last week (April 11?17) fell to 547,000.

This is about 40,000 fewer than the previous week's 586,000 claims, marking the lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

It was also significantly lower than the market expectation of 604,000 claims compiled by Dow Jones. The previous week's claims were revised upward by 10,000 from 576,000 to 586,000.

CNBC reported that although the pace of job recovery has accelerated, there are still 8 million people unemployed compared to the pre-COVID-19 period.