WASHINGTON, D.C. — A total of 719,000 Americans filed for unemployment assistance for the week that ended March 27, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. The amount of initial jobless claims was higher than the 675,000 figure that economists surveyed by Dow Jones predicted and is an increase from last week’s revised amount of 658,000. Continuing claims, for which data lags a week, decreased by 46,000 to a little more than 3.8 million.
Despite the unemployment insurance claims being higher than what economists predicted, many believe the economy is improving. CNBC reports the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits dropped by 1.5 million, which the news company attributes to pandemic-related benefits. This report follows President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion spending plan released yesterday that will add to the $5 trillion of stimulus spent to aid the U.S. economy.
ADP, a payroll processing firm, stated that firms across the country added 517,000 workers in March, which is the biggest monthly job gain since September, according to CNBC. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its March 2021 jobs report tomorrow morning.