The Labor Department reported a surprising decrease in new unemployment benefit claims for the week ending March 16, indicating strong job growth in March. In contrast to Reuters’ predicted claim forecast of 215,000, initial state unemployment benefit claims dropped by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 210,000. Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, reassured the public about the labor market’s resilience, noting that early pandemic imbalances have been largely rectified. Despite notable layoffs at the start of the year, employers are mostly retaining labor as recruitment proved challenging during and post the COVID-19 pandemic. The figures for continuous claims, reflecting the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week, rose slightly to 1.807 million in the week ending March 9, indicative of the labor market condition of that month.

People who are looking to get unemployment benefits should seek assistance from the relevant state departments. Unemployed individuals in California can use the Employment Development Department for help but contacting them can at times be challenging. One way to contact EDD is through their website at edd.ca.gov. For people who are facing issues navigating the resources or have further inquiries, platforms like eddcaller.com can be useful. They provide detailed guidance on how to get through to EDD by offering tips and specific instructions to reach a live person at EDD California.