The number of new applications for unemployment benefits dropped 19,000 last week to 793,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday, as House committees begin drafting President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill.
The number of new jobless claims was above forecasters’ expectations of 757,000.
Combined with 334,524 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance applications, a program for freelance workers, the self-employed, and others who typically cannot access unemployment benefits, more than 1 million people filed for unemployment last week.
The Labor Department’s weekly unemployment insurance claims report represents the number of people who filed for unemployment in the previous week. The report presents a high-frequency snapshot of the strength of the job market.
Jobless claims are still well above even the worst days of the 2008 financial crisis. The slow decline in new unemployment claims reflects projections that it could take until at least 2024 to return to a pre-pandemic workforce.
Members of the Biden administration have cited those slow job recovery projections in defending the size of Biden’s American Rescue Plan, even as some economists warn that so much spending risks rampant inflation.
The House Ways and Means and Education and Labor committees began their markups of the proposals, which include a $400 federal unemployment boost, checks to people and families, and an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour. House committees will continue to amend the proposals as the Senate conducts former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial.
With the bulk of job loss focused in the leisure and entertainment industry, a monthlong decline in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths has fueled optimism that states will continue to ease back business restrictions, particularly those surrounding restaurants. Just over half of all states have begun lifting state-level restrictions, and three states, Indiana, Missouri, and Florida, have lifted most restrictions.
The United States reported 94,000 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the first time the country reported four consecutive days below 100,000 new cases since October. Nearly 33 million people, roughly 10% of the U.S. population, have received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and nearly 10 million people have received both doses.
