Initial claims for unemployment in regular state programs rose by 16,000 to 744,000 in the week ended April 3, the Labor Department reported today, April 8. This was the second straight weekly increase in new claims. For the prior week, the total new claims figure was revised upward to 728,000.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had projected that initial claims for the week would fall to 680,000.
Continuing claims for ongoing state benefits fell to a one-year low of 3.73 million in the week ended March 27. New claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the federal program for self-employed and gig workers, totaled 151,752 last week, a decrease from the prior week.
The increase in new claims for unemployment is evidence that the labor market is taking its time on the road to recovery. The Federal Reserve has said that one reason to keep benchmark interest at their current 0% to 0.25% level, and to keep its program of buying $120 billion a month in Treasuries and mortgage-backed assets at that level, is that the labor market is still struggling to return to former levels of employment.
Certainly this week’s numbers support that view.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell 4 basis points to 1.63% as of 2:45 p.m. New York time today.
