WASHINGTON, D.C. — A total of 712,000 Americans filed for unemployment assistance for the week that ended March 6, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. The amount of initial jobless claims was below the 725,000 figure that economists surveyed by Dow Jones predicted and is a decrease from last week’s revised amount of 745,000. Continuing claims, for which data lags a week, decreased by 193,000 to 4.1 million.
CNBC reports that unemployment numbers are expected to lower even more in the coming weeks due to President Joe Biden signing a $1.9 trillion relief package into law, which is expected for Friday. The House of Representatives passed the revised stimulus plan on Wednesday. The U.S. economy still has a long way to go before it is completely back to pre-pandemic levels, with a total number unemployed workers totaling 10 million through February. CNBC reports that the number of individuals receiving partial or full unemployment compensation totaled 20 million as of Feb. 20.