Unemployment claims came in less than expected last week, and economic growth was slightly better than previously reported, according to government data released Thursday.
The Labor Department said that there were 232,000 initial unemployment insurance filings. It was down 17,000 from the previous week.
According to the Commerce Department, gross domestic product increased at a 7% annual rate in the fourth quarter.
Continuing claims, which run a week behind the headline number, fell by 112,000 from the previous week and were the lowest total since March 14, 1970.
The number of people receiving benefits through all government programs fell by just over 30,000. The level has continued to fall as the programs expired.
The employment level was 1.7 million below where it was in February 2020 before the Covid-19 epidemic. The unemployment rate fell from a peak of 14.7% to 4%.
The slight upward revision of GDP from the initial reading was in line with market estimates. That brought full-year growth to 5.7%, the fastest pace since 1984 and was driven by a strong inventory rebuild in the second half of the year.
Fixed investment and state and local government spending contributed to the change higher. Some of the gains were offset by downward revisions to consumer spending and exports.
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