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For: Real America News Updated 20 Jan 2022, 11: 43 AM EST
The United States Department of Labor reported that applications for unemployment benefits increased considerably the week corresponding to 11 of January, with respect to the first week of the year. In total, were registered 800,000 applications throughout the country.
The figure reported by the federal agency, represented a profit of 55,, the previous week the total number represented 231 ,. The four-week moving average of new applications also increased to 231,000 after several weeks of increased requests.
The sharp increase in claims raises concerns about the economic impact of the Omicron variant, which has affected the economy for much of the year and has led many businesses to close temporarily as is the case of restaurants.
Experts have argued that persistent hiring problems, declining face-to-face consumer activity, and school closures could end a large part of the quarter’s labor earnings .
According to The Hill, the two surveys used by the Department of Labor to calculate monthly labor earnings were conducted when the sol Jobs increased last week, which does not bode well for job growth in January.
Applications had already been rising before last week when a resilient job market collapsed under rising Omicron throughout the country. Fear of being infected has caused many workers to quit their jobs.
Weekly claims remained below pre-pandemic levels and reached a low of nearly 80 years before the new variant appeared to cause an increase in layoffs.
“From a medium-term perspective, we are concerned that the increase in jobless claims will take away momentum from the recovery of the participation in the workforce,” John Leer, chief economist at Morning Consult, told The Hill.
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