Unemployment claims likely resumed their decline as the U.S. economic revival picked up speed.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect that the Labor Department will report that jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 710,000 last week from 744,000 a week earlier.
That would be down from a recent high of about 900,000 a week in January, but still way above the levels of around 220,000 that prevailed early last year, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the U.S. economy.
“The labor market is on a recovery path,” said AnnElizabeth Konkel, economist at the job site Indeed. “The recovery is 100% tied to the public health situation,” she added.
The economy is showing signs of improvement as vaccination rates power consumer spending, governments relax restrictions on businesses, and households and federal-stimulus funds flow through the economy.
