United States Initial Jobless Claims

Initial jobless claims in the United States decreased by 6,000 to 219,000 in the week ending March 29, below market expectations of 225,000, to remain at historically low levels. On the other hand, recurring claims rose by 56,000 to 1903,000 in the previous week, the highest since November 2021 and well above forecast, suggesting that unemployed individuals are finding it increasingly difficult to reenter the workforce. In the meantime, unemployment claims filed under programs for Federal government employees, which have been under close scrutiny due to firings by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), fell by 257 to 564. Despite the decrease, reports that many firings by DOGE were done with severance packages prevents employees from claiming benefits immediately after being terminated.