US initial jobless claims continue to fall

The number of Americans initially applying for unemployment aid continued to fall last week and remained near a pre-recession low, signalling that the labour market was steadily improving, the US Labour Department said Thursday.

In the week ending Oct 4, the advance figure of seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 1,000 to 287,000, the fourth straight week that the figure has been below 300,000, Xinhua reported citing the department.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average for new claims, a better measure of the underlying trend of labour market conditions, dropped by 7,250 to 287,750, the lowest level since February 2006.

The advance figure of seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Sep 27 stood at 2.381 million, the fewest since May 2006.

The Labour Department said last week that the economy added 248,000 jobs in September, and the unemployment rate edged down to a six-year low of 5.9 percent, adding to evidence that the world's top economy is well on track of a booming recovery.