Continuing jobless claims in the United States, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, increased by 56,000 to 1903,000 in the week ended March 22. This is the highest level since November 2021 and exceeds the forecast of 1,860,000, suggesting that unemployed individuals are finding it increasingly difficult to reenter the workforce. On the other hand, initial jobless claims in the decreased by 6,000 to 219,000, below market expectations of 225,000. Also, nemployment 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 257 to 564.