The economy is slowly but surely stabilizing.

After the mass closures and layoffs of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the job market was in a unfavorable place for a long time. Initial claims for unemployment benefits hit all time highs, and added to continuing claims, millions of Americans were out of work. With vaccinations increasing and restrictions beginning to relax, however, consumer confidence is returning, and businesses are reopening, which means jobs are starting to return as well.

US weekly jobless claims sink to new pandemic low of 444,000 https://t.co/673ln0Ax9i

— Business Insider (@BusinessInsider) May 20, 2021

According to the latest reports from the US Department of Labor, initial claims for unemployment benefits have continued their downward trend that began once vaccines started rolling out in earnest. The latest statistics have seen another pandemic-era low, with initial claims at around 444,000. This is a respectable drop from the previous week’s 472,000 initial claims, as well as an improvement over expectations of economists who were expecting 452,000 initial claims. Compared to this time last year, where initial claims totaled over 2 million, this is an incredible recovery.

BREAKING: U.S. jobless claims drop to 444,000, a new pandemic low, as layoffs slow further with economy strengthening. https://t.co/kNjalcuM0Q

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 20, 2021

However, the job market is not quite out of the woods yet. Continuing claims for unemployment benefits still number nearly 4 million, though again, that is still an improvement over this time last year when they numbered over 20 million.