WASHINGTON (Reuters] – Americans are filing fewer claims for unemployment benefits than ever before, indicating that there is still strength in the market despite a difficult year and a continuing pandemic.

According to the Labor Department, initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped 71,000 to a seasonal adjusted 199,000 during the week that ended November 20, according to Wednesday’s report. It was the lowest level recorded since mid November 1969. Reuters economists had predicted 260,000 applications in the most recent week, according to polls.

Although claims have declined since October, the rate of decline has slowed recently as more applications are submitted to the average pre-pandemic level of around 220,000.

Due to the Thursday Thanksgiving holiday, the report was not published in time.

Over the holidays, data can become noisy. The number of claims has fallen from 6.149million in April 2020 to a level that is consistent with a healthy labor marketplace. However, the severe shortage of labor due to the pandemic may be hindering job growth.

The average month of employment growth this year has been 582,000. At September’s close, 10.4 million jobs were available. The number of people working in the country is 3 million less than it was before the pandemic. However, generous federal-funded benefits are now expired. Schools have been reopened for students and employers have increased wages.

This is consistent with the data on manufacturing output and retail sales that suggest the economy has regained momentum after a slowdown in July-September. The spike in claims was due to coronavirus infections and a wider range of shortages.

On Wednesday, a separate report by the Commerce Department confirmed that there was a sharp decline in third-quarter growth. In its second estimation of the GDP growth rate for this period, the government stated that gross domestic product increased by 2.1% annually.

This was the lowest growth rate in over a year, but it was slightly higher than the October 2.0% expansion pace. Reuters polled economists and predicted that the third quarter’s GDP growth would rise to 2.2%. In the second quarter, GDP grew 6.7%.

According to the upward revision, inventory declines at a faster pace than originally estimated. This offsets a significant drop in consumer spending.

This is just the rearview mirror. In October, consumer spending seems to have picked up speed. Retail sales surged in October as Americans started their holiday shopping earlier to avoid scarcity and pay more for limited goods.

This story has been corrected to correct the headline “52-year-low” and not “51 year”.