In addition, 426,856 workers applied for pandemic unemployment assistance, a program designed to provide assistance to those who are not eligible for regular state benefits, such as concert workers. PUA claims are not adjusted for seasonal fluctuations.
Together, receivables for the first time amounted to 1.3 million without seasonal adjustments.
Continuing unemployment claims, which take into account workers who have been claiming benefits for at least two weeks in a row, have fallen slightly to 4.8 million.
One year ago, unemployment claims hovered around 200,000 each week. So America has a long way to go back to that healthy level.
To accomplish this, Biden has signed several executive orders aimed at creating new jobs, with a focus on green energy jobs that will help America prepare for the economy of the future. The White House has also proposed an increase in weekly emergency benefits for the unemployed, as part of a $ 1.9 trillion stimulus bill aimed at starting the economy.
But Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the priority must be to vaccinate the U.S. population against Covid-19. No program will be able to help bring the economy back to normal until the pandemic is controlled.
“They’ve adapted a lot – but you can’t adapt hotels, sports venues, cinemas, restaurants, bars. That means millions and millions of people,” Powell told a news conference.
“So you just have to beat the pandemic. … This is really the main thing in the economy: controlling the pandemic, vaccinating everyone, putting people in masks and all that, ”he added. “This is the most important economic growth policy we can have.”