US weekly jobless claims slide to 326,000 - snapping three straight weeks of increases

• Filings for unemployment insurance dropped to 326,000 last week, snapping a streak of increases.
• Economists expected claims to drop to 348,000. Weekly totals have steadily hovered above pandemic lows.
• Continuing claims fell to 2.71 million for the week that ended September 25, beating estimates

Fewer Americans filed for unemployment insurance in the last week of September, ending a streak of concerning increases.

Jobless claims totaled 326,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. That came in below the median forecast of 348,000 from economists surveyed by Bloomberg. It also snapped a three-week streak of gains.

The previous week's count was revised to 364,000 from 362,000 claims.

Continuing claims, which count Americans receiving unemployment benefits, declined to 2.71 million through the week that ended September 25. Economists expected a reading of 2.76 million continuing claims. The previous week's sum was revised to 2.81 million.

Both initial and continuing claims have swung higher from pandemic-era lows in recent weeks and have yet to resume their slide to pre-crisis levels. The increases came after the federal government's $300-per-week boost to benefits lapsed on September 6. The expiration left recipients with weaker cash support, and claims data published since suggests the end of the supplement did little to curb UI usage.

The Thursday report follows encouraging hiring data from analytics firm ADP. The company's monthly employment report showed the US private sector adding 568,000 jobs in September, healthily exceeding economists' forecast of 428,000 new payrolls. The reading also marked a rebound for job growth after just 374,000 jobs were added in August.

The clearest picture of September hiring will emerge on Friday morning when the government publishes its own payrolls report. Economists expect the economy to have added 473,000 nonfarm payrolls last month, more than double the 235,000 added in August. The unemployment rate is forecasted to dip to 5.1% from 5.2%.

Both forecasts suggest a stronger labor market recovery than that seen at the end of the summer. And with Delta case counts steadily dropping, the broader recovery could be picking up the pace.