Initial jobless claims in the United States decreased by 1,000 to 224,000 in the week ending March 22, marginally below market expectations of 225,000, to remain at historically low levels. In the meantime, recurring claims fell by 25,000 in the second week of the month.

The results continued to indicate that the US hosts a robust labor market despite the prolonged period of restrictive monetary policy and the pessimistic batch of soft data released during the first quarter of the year.

In the meantime, unemployment claims filed under programs for Federal government employees, which have been under close scrutiny due to firings by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), fell by 245 to 821. Despite the decrease, reports that many firings by DOGE were done with severance packages prevents employees from claiming benefits immediately after being terminated.

Source: Trading Economics