(Department of Labor) Americans filed 286,000 jobless claims in the week that ended January 15, up by 55,000 from the previous week, reflecting rising impacts of the Omicron variant.
At 286,000, the claims were higher than forecasted 220,000. The claims were 231,000 on a 4-week average, up by 20,000 from the previous week.
Continuing claims were recorded at 1.635 million, up by 84,000 from the previous week. On a four-week average, the continuing claims fell by 55,250 to 1.664 million.
The initial claims under state programs fell by 19.8% or 83,418 to 337,417. The decline was lower than expected fall of 33% or 138,773.
The continuing claims under various state programs rose by 26,126 or 1.3% to 2.076 million. The claims were expected to lower by 2.8% or 57,330.
The states of California, New York, Texas, Kentucky, and Missouri posted the largest gains in initial claims. The declines were noted the largest in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.
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