(April 1) First-time claims for jobless benefits were higher than expected last week, with 719,000 more workers heading to the unemployment line, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The total compared to the 675,000 estimate from Dow Jones and was above last week’s downwardly revised 658,000.
While the number of weekly claims remains inordinately high by historical means, the trend is falling now that the U.S. economy continues to reopen and close to 3 million Americans receive vacations each day for Covid-19.
Continuing claims, which run a week behind the headline number, fell by 46,000 to just below 3.8 million.
The report comes a day ahead of the government’s nonfarm payrolls count for March, which is expected to show a gain of 675,000, to follow on February’s 379,000.
Along with the efforts to combat the virus, the Biden Administration continues to shovel money to boost an economy that is showing signs of solid growth. The president put forth a $2 trillion spending plan Thursday that will build on more than $5 trillion of stimulus either already spent or announced on programs aimed at pulling the nation out of the crisis slump.
While the pace of job gains slowed in the early part of the winter, recent indications are that hiring has picked up.
Payroll processing firm ADP estimated that the companies added 517,000 workers in March, the fastest pace since September. Recent manufacturing reports also show plans ahead for more hiring, and job gains appear to be strongest in the battered hospitality sector, which took the worst of the losses due to social distancing and government-imposed restrictions.