Jobless Claims Tick Up To 207,000 But Remain Near Half-century Low

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits remained near a 52-year low last week, even as an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the super contagious omicron variant threatened to undermine the economy's recovery.

Figures released Thursday by the Labor Department show that applications for the week ended Jan. 1 climbed slightly to 207,000 from a revised 200,000 a week earlier, missing the 197,000 forecast by Refinitiv analysts.

Continuing claims, or the number of Americans who are consecutively receiving unemployment aid, rose to 1.754 million, an increase of 36,000 from the previous week. 

The report shows that roughly 1.722 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits for the week ending Dec. 18, a decrease of 199,869 from the previous week; by comparison, just a little over one year ago, an estimated 20.15 million Americans were receiving benefits. 

"While hiring has certainly been a challenge, the employment picture has been improving and edging toward what it was pre-pandemic," said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*Trade. "So with the labor market somewhat under control, jobless claims are likely going to fade into the background while the Fed is focused on their inflation mandate."

Claims have continually declined as the economy recovers from the pandemic and Americans venture out to travel, shop and eat. Businesses have struggled to keep up with the demand, however, and have reported difficulties in onboarding new employees. Thursday's report suggests that companies are making an effort to retain the workers they already have.