Initial filings for unemployment claims south of the border totaled a bit fewer than expected last week as companies looked to overcome the impact of the omicron spread.
Figures released Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department showed claims for the week ended Jan. 29 were 238,000, a touch lower than the 245,000 Dow Jones estimate. That was also a decline from the previous week’s upwardly revised 261,000.
The report closes out a tough January in which millions of Americans lost work due to the COVID impact.
Census Bureau data shows that more than 8.7 million workers missed time in late January into February due either to having COVID themselves or having to care for someone with the virus. Nearly two million more said they were out of work due to their employer closing for COVID-related reasons, while almost 1.5 million more said they lost jobs because their employer shut down permanently due to the pandemic.
Claims have turned higher after briefly dipping below 200,000 in early December and posting their lowest total in more than 50 years.
With cases declining sharply over the past two weeks, economists are hopeful that the trend will reverse itself.