The number of new unemployment claims increased last week despite falling to their lowest levels during the Pandemic, as experts warn a record surge in coronaviruses cases is already slowing the economic recovery.
Last week, economists were expecting about 195,000 new unemployment claims.
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In the week ending January 1st, 207,000 people filed initial jobless claims, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week.
The economists were expecting about 195,000 new claims.
The previous week's estimate was revised up by 2,000, from 198,000 to 200,000, according to the Labor Department.
Bankrate Senior Economic analyst Mark Hamrick said that despite the unexpected increase, workers should remain reasonably confident about job security and an upbeat employment outlook this year.
The unemployment rate is expected to fall to 3.8% in a year from 4.1% in November, but economists surveyed by Bankrate said the new omicron variant of the coronaviruses could weigh on job growth in the first three months of the year.
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The new unemployment data comes after a promising jobs report on Wednesday showed a strengthened labor market recovery in early December, before omicron became the dominant strain in the United States and helped push new daily cases from about 36,000 to an all-time high of more than 1 million on Monday.
The December jobs report from the Labor Department is expected to provide a broader picture of the job market, but it won't capture the impact of the latest Covid surge, according to a weekend research note. The Labor Department surveys around the 12th of each month, so it will take a few more weeks before the data is reflected.
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The economy is being called the shots by the Pandemic. The Delta wave weighed on growth and fanned inflation this past fall, and omicron is already doing significant economic damage, as credit card spending turned soft in recent weeks.
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According to the Labor Department, the US has recovered 80% of the jobs that were cut last year.
4.5 million Americans quit their jobs in November.
December's Stunning Job Growth doesn't tell the whole story.
Coverage and live updates on the coronaviruses.
