The latest weekly initial jobless claims dropped below 300,000 for the first time since the pandemic began, according to data released Thursday by the Department of Labor.

Initial applications for unemployment benefits totaled 293,000, the lowest level since March 14, 2020. Continuing claims, which indicate the number of people collecting ongoing benefits, dropped to 2.59 million, another low.

The latest number roundly beat out economists' forecasts of 318,000, and is an indication that companies are holding on to their workers amid a tight labor market.

"I have said from the beginning that we cannot fully bring our economy back unless we beat the pandemic — and here, too, we are seeing encouraging signs," President Joe Biden said in a statement released Thursday afternoon. "With wages rising and our unemployment rate back below 5 percent for the first time since the pandemic struck, it is clear that our economy is getting back to normal despite the global challenges posed by the delta variant."