Washington, Jul 16 (IANS): Initial unemployment claims in the US dropped to 360,000 last week, after ticking up from a pandemic low in the prior week, the Labour Department reported.

In the week ending July 10, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits decreased by 26,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised level of 386,000, according to a report released on Thursday by the Department's Bureau of Labour Statistics.

According to the report, this is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020, when it was 256,000, Xinhua news agency reported.

The four-week moving average, a method to iron out data volatility, fell by 14,500 to 382,500.

The latest report also showed that the number of people continuing to collect regular state unemployment benefits in the week ending July 3 decreased by 126,000 to 3.24 million.

That number peaked in April and May last year, when it was over 20 million.

Meanwhile, the total number of people claiming benefits in all programs, state and federal combined, for the week ending June 26 also decreased by 372,279 to 13.8 million, as the country continues to grapple with the fallout of the pandemic.

Over 20 states, nearly all of which are Republican-led, previously announced plans to end the $300 weekly federal unemployment benefits in June or July, weeks ahead of their expiration date of September 6, citing labour shortage.

Last spring as Covid-19 shutdowns rippled through the workforce, initial jobless claims spiked by 3 million to reach a record 3.3 million in the week ending March 21, 2020, and then doubled to reach a record 6.87 million in the week ending March 28.

After that, the number, though at record highs, has been declining overall, but the trend was reversed multiple times amid resurgences and a bumpy economic recovery.