Numbers

4/20/2021

576,000

The number of Americans seeking new claims for state unemployment dropped to 576,000 in the week ending March 20, the U.S. Labor Department reported. The figure was a decrease of 769,000 from the previous week’s revised level. Meanwhile, continuing claims, which track the aggregate total of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits, decreased from 683,000 to 16.9 million in the week ended March 27. Furthermore, 51 states reported 7,053,575 workers applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), a program for the self-employed and gig workers, the report shows. For the week ending April 3, California (39,136), New York (16,771), Oklahoma (4,615) states saw the largest increases in initial claims, while Alabama (13,318), Ohio (9,358), Georgia (5,659) states posted the largest decreases.

61,200

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have the higher unemployment rate when compared with nationwide. The US State Department of Labor reported that New York added 61,200 jobs in March and this is a 0.8% rise from the earlier month. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate declined to 8.5% in March from 8.9% in February. On the other hand, New Jersey added 20,000 private-sector jobs in March, so the unemployment dropped from 0.1% to 7.7%. Connecticut added 5,000 private-sector jobs in the previous month, so the state’s unemployment rate pulled down to 8.3% from 8.5% in February. All together the tri-state added their back 60% of the nearly 300,000 jobs lost during the pandemic.

916,000

Hiring has pushed up as U.S employers added 916,000 workers to their payrolls and it was the highest job gain since August. The unemployment rate has been dropped to 6% from 6.2% in February. After the pandemic hit, the bars and restaurants have added 176,000 workers in March, construction companies added 110,000 workers in March, where schools and colleges added 190,000 workers as in-person education has restarted. The manufacturing industry has recovered quickly because it relies on in-person services, factories added 53,000 workers last month.

9.8%

The U.S Commerce Department reported that, in March, as a measure of purchases at stores, restaurants and online pushed the retail sales up by 9.8% from a prior month. When compared to the Dow Jones it is predicted a 6.1% gain and a decline of 2.7% in February. The factory, mining and utility output has rebounded in March after a drop in February. Factory output has risen to 2.7% over the month, which in turn, drives them to gain. This would be the best month for retail since May 2020, as it rose to 18.3%, after the first round of stimulus checks. Economists IHS Markit forecast that the gross domestic product would be 6.7% higher in the fourth quarter than it was in the same period of last year.

0.6%

U.S. consumer prices index increased by 0.6% in March from the prior month, 2.6% from a year ago reported by the Department of Labor. A 9.1% rise in gasoline prices accounted for nearly half of the increase in the CPI (Consumer price index). Gasoline prices pushed up by 22% in March and the food prices edged up 0.1%. CPI rose in March than in February by 1.7% on an annual basis and 0.4% from the previous month. Economists Wall Street Journal predicts that U.S. gross domestic product will increase at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 8.1% in the second quarter.

$16B

Microsoft has a deal of $16 billion with Nuance Communications Inc to promote its software program to healthcare techniques, in line with analysts and healthcare executives. Including debt, the software giant is investing revenue that is 13 times Nuance’s fiscal 2020 revenue and it is predicted that the company rose by 8% this year. Amazon is springing into healthcare e-commerce, delivering prescriptions after buying online pharmacy startup PillPack for $1 billion. Google developed a personal app that helps to track train exercise, sleep and different wellness information. And it also purchased Fitbit, the corporate behind one other fitness-tracking wristband, completed the $2.1 billion acquisition just lately.

28.9%

As per the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, Americans who are unable to cover up their household expenses in late March decline from 33.8% to 28.9%. The total number of Americans who don’t have enough food to eat on weekly basis dropped from 10.7% to 8.8%. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that about 18 million adults are going hungry is higher than the American who doesn’t have food to have. CBPP finds that about 50 million are using credit cards or loans to cover their expenses and 20 million have borrowed money from family or friends. By overlapping the above two groups about 34 million adults say they have availed some type of borrowing to cover up their financial needs last month.