The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week for a fourth straight time to a pandemic low.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims fell by 29,000 to 348,000.

Still, the number of applications remains high by historic standards: Before the pandemic tore through the economy in March 2020, the weekly pace amounted to around 220,000 a week.

Filings for unemployment benefits have traditionally been seen as a real-time measure of the job market’s health. But their reliability has deteriorated during the pandemic due to a number of bureaucratic issues.

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