US jobless claims hit pandemic low of 576,000

By Teddy Grant Published: April 15, 2021

US jobless claims hit pandemic low of 576,000

A "Now Hiring" sign hangs on the front wall of a Harbor Freight Tools store, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020, in Manchester, N.H. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell by 19,000 to a still-high 787,000, evidence that the job market remains under stress as a resurgent coronavirus continues to batter the economy. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Unemployment claims dropped to 576,000 last week, the lowest level since the COVID-19 outbreak began, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

Applications dipped by 193,000, a significant drop from the nearly 770,000 applications the week before. According to the Los Angeles Times, jobless claims hit a peak of 900,000 at the beginning of January.

In March, employers added 916,000 jobs, a sign that the economy is reopening following last year’s pandemic-fueled shutdown.

Unemployment sits at 6%, down from 15% at the peak of the pandemic, according to the LA Times.

“We feel like we’re at a place where the economy’s about to start growing much more quickly and job creation coming in much more quickly,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told 60 Minutes. “This growth that we’re expecting in the second half of this year is going to be very strong. And job creation, I would expect to be very strong.”