In March, 916k new jobs were added as unemployment fell to 6%, the Labor Department announced on Friday. However, a day earlier the agency said 719K Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits just last week.
How Can Jobless Claims Rise Even as New Jobs Are Added?
Mixed signals on the economy from the Labor Department this week. On Thursday, they said jobless claims rose last week. On Friday, the Labor Department announced that, in March, the US economy added 916,000 new jobs.
According to hiring and employment data released on Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the biggest gains came in sectors that are critical to economic recovery, NBC reported. The leisure and hospitality sector added 280,000 new positions, while bars and restaurants added 176,000 jobs, and construction followed with 110,000 jobs.
Overall, the 916,000 jobs added last month nearly doubled the 468,000 jobs added in February, which had doubled the 233,000 positions added in January. Additionally, the March job numbers substantially outpaced the estimates of economists who predicted 675,000 new positions.
Unemployment dropped to 6% in March, but far from 3.5% low
The statistics released on Friday by the Labor Department show that the rate of unemployment in March fell to six percent, ABC reported.
While the number is good news considering a year ago in April 2020, unemployment soared to 14.8 percent, the US still has a ways to go toward economic recovery.
At 6 percent, unemployment numbers are nearly double of what they were before the current global health crisis, shutdowns and lockdowns zapped the US economy, sending unemployment soaring from a previous historic low of 3.5%.
Jobless Claims Rose Last Week as 719K File
Last week, according to the latest data released by the Department of Labor on Thursday, the number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits rose again, increasing by 61,000 over the previous week.
For the week ending March 27, 719,000 Americans for filed first-time jobless benefits, Bloomberg reported.
Even as the lockdown situation has improved in some states and localities, the demand for labor in the US is still struggling to move further toward a full economic recovery.
Experts and economists are predicting, that despite an ease and restrictions in many places, recouping the millions of jobs lost will take some time still. However, they do suggest that, in the coming months, employment will begin to accelerate.
