© Provided by City AM New US jobless claims unexpectedly jumped last week to 770,000.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits came in at a seasonally adjusted 770,000 for the week to 13 March, the Labor Department said today.
The week before new US jobless claims came in at 725,000 people seeking benefits.
Today's numbers were worse than what economists polled by Reuters had forecast, they had pencilled in 700,000 applications for the latest week.
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Video: U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Jump to a One-Month High (Bloomberg)
U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Jump to a One-Month High
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The labour market recovery is also being underpinned by very accommodative monetary and fiscal policy, including President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion rescue plan, which is sending fresh aid to businesses and households.
Progress sputtered between November and January amid a resurgence in COVID-19 cases and expiration of pandemic relief funds from the government.
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell told reporters on Wednesday that "conditions in the labor market have turned up recently."
The US central bank pledged to keep its benchmark overnight interest rate near zero for years to come even as it projected robust economic growth this year.
Unemployment claims have dropped from a record 6.8m in March 2020, but are still above their 665,000 peak during the 2007-09 Great Recession and could remain elevated because of the expanded unemployment benefits. In a healthy labor market, claims are normally in a 200,000 to 250,000 range.
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