Fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, a sign persistent demand is fueling gains in the labor market.

Job openings in the climbed to a 13-year high in August as employers gained confidence about the outlook for demand in the worlds biggest economy.

A surprisingly powerful surge in hiring pushed unemployment to a six-year low of 5.9 percent in September as the U.S. labor market showed renewed vigor.

A new wealth gap is opening among U.S. corporations, where cash holdings are growing more concentrated as the rich get richer.

Jobless claims dropped by 24,000 to 297,000 in the week ended May 10.

Calling growing inequality a betrayal of U.S. values and morally wrong, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz said concentrated wealth could harm public health, slow economic growth and undermine democracy.

Fewer Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, a sign the labor market continues to gain traction.

Payrolls rose 192,000 after a 197,000 gain in February that was larger than first estimated, the Labor Department reported.