The number of American workers filing for unemployment benefits fell last week to a new pandemic-era low, signaling continued labor market improvement. First-time filings for unemployment insurance—a proxy for layoffs—came in at 269,000 for the week ending Oct. 30, the Labor Department said in a statement (pdf). The consensus forecast was for 277,000 claims. “There’s good news on several fronts with respect to new jobless claims, which signals stability in the job market. Initial applications for jobless benefits are down for a fifth straight week, falling to a fresh COVID-era low,” Bankrate senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. Continuing claims, which run a week behind the initial filings figure and reflect the total number of people receiving benefits through traditional state programs, fell by 134,000 to just over 2.1 million. This is the lowest level of continuing claims since March 14, 2020, when there were around …