星期四公布的新经济新数据显示，美国的就业市场趋于恶化，同时陷入困境的制造业的情况略有好转。上星期，首次申请失业补助的美国人数上升到26年来的最高点。
美国劳工部星期四发表的报告说，领取失业补助超过一星期的人数超过570万，这是另一个创记录的数字。
另一份美国政府报告说，美国工厂的新订单2月份增加了1.8%，此前连续6个月呈下降趋势。美国政府的专家星期五将就美国就业市场发表一份更详细的报告，其中将公布3月的失业率。
媒体采访的经济学家们预计，失业率将上升0.4%，达到8.5%，而这将是20多年来的最高水平。
New economic data Thursday show the U.S. job market getting worse, while the troubled factory sector got a little better. The number of newly-laid off Americans signing up for unemployment aid rose (by 12,000) to hit the highest level (669,000) in 26 years last week.
Thursday’s report from the U.S. Labor Department also shows the number of people collecting jobless aid for more than one week hit yet another record high above 5.7 million.
A separate government report on new orders to U.S. factories says they rose 1.8 percent in February. The increase follows six straight months of declines. Government experts publish a more detailed look at the battered U.S. job market on Friday, when they report the unemployment rate for March.
Economists surveyed by news organizations predict the jobless rate will surge four-tenths of a percent to hit 8.5 percent, the highest level in more than two decades.