Summary List Placement

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell for a third consecutive week as the labor market’s recovery charged forward.

New jobless claims totaled an unadjusted 553,000 last week, according to the Labor Department. The median estimate from economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for 540,000 claims. The previous week’s reading was revised to 566,000 from 547,000.

Continuing claims, which track Americans currently receiving unemployment benefits, rose to 3.66 million for the week that ended on April 17, the Labor Department said. That’s above the median estimate of 3.59 million claims.