U.S initial jobless claims dropped to an eight-month low last week, down 23,000 to 382,000. The report is good news for those who fear the lack of job growth could hamstring the U.S. recovery.

It’s the second time in the last month that weekly claims have been below 400,000 comfort level. Recent economic growth is finally encouraging employers to expand their payrolls — the first time in eight months.

“This was better than market expectations,” says RBC Financial. RBC adds that job losses seem to be tapering off, “but unfortunately the high level of continuing claims suggests that laid-off workers are still having considerable difficulty being reabsorbed into the workforce.”

“A protracted labour market recovery hangs on an acceleration in the pace of hiring, and without that, the economic recovery could still remain in jeopardy,” it warns. “As such, the Fed has indicated that interest rates will not be increased anytime soon until firm indications of a labour market recovery occur.”

RBC also draws attention to a report that U.S. import prices fell 0.5% in September. This was a bit more than markets expected. “A 5.3% fall in petroleum prices caused the bulk of the decline given that nonpetroleum import prices rose 0.2%,” it says. “Meanwhile somewhat surprisingly, export prices rose 0.4%. This was due to a strong increase in agricultural prices. Export prices other than agriculture fell 0.1% for the month.”

“In the upcoming term, higher oil prices due to OPEC’s production cuts along with the beginning of the winter heating season, will likely put some upward pressure on import prices. At the same time, the U.S. dollar’s decline may also begin to have more of an effect on export prices,” RBC concludes.