Jobless claims dip to 787,000

Economists cautious as infections rise, layoffs remain high.

WASHINGTON— The number of laid-off Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 787,000, a sign that job losses may have eased slightly but are still running at historically high levels.

Last week’s figure was down from 842,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The government also revised down the number of people who sought aid in the twoweeks before that. The revised total for theweek that ended Oct. 3 was 767,000, the fewest since the viral pandemic erupted in March, though stillmore than three times the levels that preceded the pandemic.

Economists welcomed the declines as evidence that the job market is recovering fromthe pandemic recession. But somethe improvement could prove short- lived. With confirmed infections having neared 60,000 in the past week, the most since July, consumers have been unable or reluctant to shop, travel, dine out or congregate in crowds — a trend that has led some employers to keep cutting jobs. Several states are reporting a record number of hospitalizations from the virus.

“We doubt it will continue as COVID infections spread rapidly, pushing down demand for discretionary consumer services, especially in the hospitality sector,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macro economics, referring to the portion of the economy that includes hardhit hotels, restaurants and bars.

Thursday’s report also said the number of people who are continuing to receive unemployment benefits tumbled by 1 million to 8.4 million. The decline shows that some of the unemployed are being recalled to their old jobs or are finding new ones, but it also indicates that many jobless Americans have used up their state unemployment aid.

WILFREDOLEE/ ASSOCIATED PRESS AZara store displays a “NowHiring” sign along famedLincoln Road inMiami Beach. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell lastweek to 787,000.