The Labor Department reported on Wednesday that initial unemployment claims tumbled last week to their lowest point since 1969, the New York Times reported. New filings for state benefits totaled 199,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, a decline of 71,000 from the previous week. The drop marks a milestone in the economy’s recovery from the pandemic. Weekly claims peaked at more than six million in April 2020 as the coronavirus forced businesses and consumers alike to shut down. As recently as early January, amid a winter resurgence of the coronavirus, new state claims exceeded 900,000 in one week. Filing for unemployment benefits has come down sharply since then, but remained well above prepandemic levels until very recently. Despite a summer lull, the economy has been showing signs of life lately. Employers added 531,000 jobs in October, and most economists expect growth to pick up in the final quarter of the year, boosted by healthy consumer spending. In a separate report on Wednesday, the Commerce Department said that household spending rose 1.3 percent in October, while personal income jumped 0.5 percent, before adjusting for inflation. It also showed that prices climbed by 5 percent in the 12 months through October.
