By: Leonard Robinson
Jobless claims across the country dropped to an all-time low this week, another sign of economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Unemployment claims fell to 684,000 last week from 781,000 a week earlier, according to the Labor Department. This is the lowest point since mid-March last year and even lower than the pre-pandemic high of 695,000, a number that had not been hit for over a year.
Americans are spending more money on goods and services as more people are vaccinated, states lift coronavirus restrictions on businesses, and another round of coronavirus stimulus checks makes its way to their bank accounts.
Experts interpret the increase in consumer spending as a sign of economic recovery coming sooner than they expected. Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal expected rising inflation to accompany 5.95% GDP growth, the fastest in 40 years.
Nearly 10 million Americans remained unemployed, according to data from the Labor Department.
“The recovery is really hitting full steam again, and all of the conditions will be in place for a real, explosive liftoff in the summer when hopefully we’ve reached a higher vaccination threshold,” said ZipRecruiter labor economist Julia Pollak.
