MACRO: US initial jobless claims rise for 2nd week

• US Jobless Claims disappoint again
• Over 18 million Americans is still receiving unemployment checks

A total of 744,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits for the first time during the week ended April 3, the Labor Department said today, from the previous period's revised figure of 728 k and above analysts' estimates of 680 thousand. Claims are still far from the 200 thousand level reported back in February 2020. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, initial claims increased to 741k, from 723 k in the previous week. California, New York and Virginia recorded highest increases while Alabama, Ohio and Texas reported the largest declines. Continuing jobless claims dropped to 3.734 million  from a revised 3.750 million a week before but above market expectations of 3.650 million. Continuing claims hit their lowest level in a year.

Claims are still far from the 200 thousand level reported back in February 2020. Source: FRED

The recovery of the US labor market remains uneven, as layoffs and pandemic emergency claims rose last week, while continuing claims continued to slide. Source: Bloomberg via ZeroHedge

Also the number of unemployed people which received benefits under all programs currently stands at 18,164,588. It seems the situation in the American labor market has stagnated in the last 4 months despite broad 'reopenings'. On the other hand, claims remained below the 800k for a seventh week in a row, which may be a sign that the recovery of the labor market could still speed up, helped by the rapid vaccine rollout program and massive $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package.