Jobless claims rose last week to 719,000 the Labor Department said Thursday, but remain near their lowest point since Covid’s onset. Applications have trended downward this year.
Claims remain well above pre-pandemic levels—the weekly average in 2019 was 218,000—but have trended downward since the start of the year.
The trend “underlines the recovery is beginning to accelerate, particularly in the labor market, and I think that makes sense given what we’re seeing in terms of reopenings and the loosening of virus restrictions in various states,” said Michael Pearce, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics.
State and local governments have eased restrictions on businesses and activity this year. Meanwhile, rising Covid-19 vaccinations and federal stimulus measures have helped to spur a pickup in consumer spending, particularly for services such as dining, hotels and flights.
The labor market also has shown signs of gaining steam. Economists forecast that the U.S. economy in March added 675,000 jobs, compared with a gain of 379,000 in February, and that the jobless rate ticked down to 6% from 6.2%. The Labor Department will release its March employment report Friday.
