* AP…

The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell last week to 498,000, the lowest point since the viral pandemic struck 14 months ago and a sign of the job market’s growing strength as businesses reopen and consumers step up spending.

Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that applications declined 92,000 from a revised 590,000 a week earlier. The number of weekly jobless claims — a rough measure of the pace of layoffs — has declined significantly from a peak of 900,000 in January as employers have ramped up hiring.

At the same time, the pace of applications is still well above the roughly 230,000 level that prevailed before the viral outbreak tore through the economy in March of last year.

* CBS 2…

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates 14,822 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of April 26 in Illinois, according to the DOL’s weekly claims report released Thursday. […]

There were 17,141 new unemployment claims filed during the week of April 19 in Illinois.

There were 15,248 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of April 12 in Illinois.

here were 18,986 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of April 5 in Illinois.

There were 16,182 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of March 29 in Illinois.

There were 14,189 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of March 22 in Illinois.

* Meanwhile, here’s Capitol News Illinois…

New research shows pandemic-related child care burdens have magnified economic inequalities for women in the workforce in Illinois.

That research was included in The Child Care Crisis in Illinois: A Survey of Working Mothers During the COVID-19 Pandemic, conducted by the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Illinois Economic Policy Institute nonprofit research organization.

A data review in that report showed the workforce participation rate among women hit its lowest level in more than three decades in January 2021, at 57 percent nationally.

One of the most significant findings, according to the researchers, was that 40 percent of working moms who were employed at the beginning of the pandemic were out of work or saw reduced hours as a result of the pandemic.