US jobless claims rose for the first time in three weeks, the Labor Department reported on Thursday ahead of monthly employment data awaited by the markets
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2022) US jobless claims rose for the first time in three weeks, the Labor Department reported on Thursday ahead of monthly employment data awaited by the markets.
"In the week ending March 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 202,000, an increase of 14,000 from the previous week's revised level," the US Labor Department said in a statement.
In the previous week to March 19, jobless claims hit the lowest level since December 5, resuming their downtrend in a labor market described by the Federal Reserve as extremely tight.
The rise in jobless claims during the week to March 26 was the first since the opening week of this month. It came ahead of the more important non-farm payrolls report from the Labor Department due on Friday that will comprise both private and public sector jobs. Economists have said they expect non-farm payrolls to have grown by 490,000 in March, versus 678,000 in February.
US unemployment reached a record high of 14.8% in April 2020, with the loss of some 20 million jobs in the aftermath of the coronavirus breakout. Jobs numbers have recovered over the past year, with the unemployment rate moving down to 3.8%. An unemployment rate of 4% or below is regarded by the Federal Reserve as maximum employment.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said earlier this month that the labor market was extremely tight, with robust demand and subdued supply. Powell also noted that more than a million positions were filled within the first two months of the year.
Since Powell's remarks, private US payrolls processor ADP reported that private employers in the United States added 455,000 jobs from February to March, sustaining growth in the labor market that is driving economic recovery from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic measures.
In addition to the increase in the number of jobs , the United States has also experienced one of the greatest transformations of its employment market as pandemic measures upended labor supply and work trends, putting employees' demands above those of employers.
