Washington, Oct 9 (IANS): The weekly unemployment claims in the US totalled 840,000 last week, the lowest level since the coronavirus-induced shutdown in March, according to the Labour Department.

The new figure, released by the Department on Thursday, was also lower from the upwardly revised 849,000 from a week earlier, reports CNBC News.

Since the US economy was shutdown after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak as a pandemic, unemployment claims have remained above the 800,000 mark every week.

However, continuing claims again fell sharply, dropping by just over 1 million to 10.98 million, according to the Labour Department.

Continuing claims trail the headline weekly claims number by a week.

The insured unemployment rate also slid from 8.2 per cent to 7.5 per cent, its lowest since March 28.

Despite the persistently high level of jobless claims, a White House official said the economy continues on a clear recovery path.

"The economy is entering into a boom and growth looks great," Joseph LaVorgna, an advisor to President Donald Trump and chief economist on the National Economic Council, told CNBC News on Thursday.

"If you look at most indicators, they are back above their pre-coronavirus readings," he said.

There are still 25.5 million workers claiming some form of unemployment benefits.

First-time claimants under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program fell by 44,270 to 464,437 for the week of October 3.