The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, but more out of work people are struggling to find new opportunities amid weak hiring.

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer greeted returning employees via email but didn’t welcome staff in person or through a virtual meeting, as previous DOL leaders have done following government shutdowns, the worker said. In her email to DOL staff Thursday morning, the secretary said she was “eager” for them to get back to work.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the week ending Nov. 15 fell by 8,000 from the previous week to 220,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Data for the weeks covering the government shutdown also remained in the same range of recent years, falling between 200,000 and 250,000.

The U.S. Labor Department's statistical agency should prioritize the production of November employment and inflation reports when the government reopens to ensure Federal Reserve officials have up-to-date information at their December policy meeting,

The Labor Department is finally releasing the jobs report for September, which was delayed for weeks due to the government shutdown. It is expected to show the economy added around 50,000 jobs that month.

US job growth topped expectations in September but the unemployment rate continued its march higher, underscoring the lingering fragility of the labor market.

The number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits stood at a two-month high in mid-October at the time when the Labor Department would have been conducting its survey of U.S. households.

The US Labor Department will absorb some of the work administering federal education programs, as the Trump administration seeks to drastically shrink the Department of Education.