The number of US initial jobless claims has fallen significantly
In the US, the number of applications for unemployment benefits fell surprisingly sharply in the past week. In the week ending March 6, 712,000 initial applications were made, according to the US Department of Labor. That is 42,000 fewer applications than the week before.
However, the ministry corrected the value of the previous week slightly upwards. According to this, 754,000 auxiliary requests were made in the week of February 27, after 745,000 requests had initially been reported. According to the ministry, around 4.1 million people are currently receiving unemployment benefits.
Despite the decline, the situation on the American labor market remains tense. In the period before the outbreak of the corona crisis, around 200,000 initial jobless claims were made per week in the United States.
Initial jobless claims are an indicator of short-term developments in the US labor market. The job market was hit hard by the corona crisis. Many millions more are still unemployed than before the crisis.
