The number of weekly jobless claims fell more than expected last week, dropping below 700,000 for the first time, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department.
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Between March 14 and 20, 684,000 requests were registered (-90,000).
This is less than the 710,000 registrations expected by analysts.
Over four weeks, the decline continued with an average of 736,000 requests (-13,000).
However, the labor market is far from being recovered and the pandemic continues to affect the recovery.
The Labor Department has also revised up the figures for the previous week, to 781,000 new requests.
"The downward trend remains intact"
“
This looks like a correction after the unexpected increase in (unemployment benefit) claims announced last week
,” commented Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a note.
"
The slight downward trend in place since the end of January is intact
", he added while stressing that this level of requests still remains above the peak of 655,000 requests observed after the financial crisis of 2008. He estimates that this probably reflects the fact that some areas of the service are still struggling.
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"
We assume that every week, companies reduce their workforce further or throw in the towel, unable to hang on until the (complete) reopening of the economy,
" he explained.
But economists expect a sharp decline in new jobless claims once the economy fully reopens, possibly in the second quarter.