The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits from states drifted up slightly last week, prompting speculation that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus could be casting a shadow over the United States labour market recovery.Weekly jobless claims – a proxy for layoffs – rose to 207,000 in the week ending January 1, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday. That is an increase of 7,000 over the previous week’s revised level.Even though the headline number moved up, it is still low by historical standards, signalling that a tight labour market will likely continue to eclipse any disruptions resulting from Omicron, whose spread has triggered flight cancellations and a wave of workers calling in sick.
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