Americans filing for unemployment benefits increased in the week ending Jan. 1, running contradictory to analyst expectations, and may be a precursor to the coming weeks where more workers are expected to get laid off with one of the main reasons being Omicron-related business continuity issues.
“[T]he advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 207,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level,” according to a news release (pdf) Thursday by the labor department. “The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 198,000 to 200,000. The 4-week moving average was 204,500, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 199,250 to 199,750.”
