U.S. jobless claims total 884,000 as labor market continues to recover

The number of initial jobless claims in the United States totaled 884,000 last week, unchanged from the previous week’s revised level, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

In the week ending Sept. 5, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits came in below 1 million for the third time in the past 25 weeks, indicating improvement in the labor market ravaged by the COVID-19 crisis.

The four-week moving average, a method to iron out data volatility, decreased by 21,750 to 970,750, according to the report.

The number of people continuing to collect state unemployment benefits increased by 93,000 to 13.4 million in the week ending Aug. 29, the report showed.

U.S. employers added 1.4 million jobs in August, while the unemployment rate dropped to 8.4 percent, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Despite the continued recovery, analysts said the momentum seems to be fading, with an uncertain path hinging on the virus.