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On Thursday, US Labor Department data had unveiled that the number of Americans filing for first-time state unemployment benefits tumbled below 200,000, while continuing claims dropped to the lowest since March 7, 2020, corroborating analysts’ belief that the rapidly spreading Omicron variant would less likely impact a US labor market what had been closing in on a maximum employment. In point of fact, the US Labor Department’s initial jobless claims data came forth as a vindication of a vivid illustration that the US labor market had continued to regain momentum at year-end, while the Omicron variant, the most infectious pandemic contagion thus far, had yet to tighten its grip on a roaring US employment. Besides, in the latest flashpoint of a solidly growing US labor market, signs of a plausible blockbuster growth in US economy over fourth quarter began to emerge, suggested analysts following the announcement.
US initial jobless claims edge lower
According to US Labor Department data, the number of Americans filing for state unemployment benefits tumbled to a seasonally adjusted 198,000 over the week that ended on December 25 compared to 206,000 applications filed a week earlier, beating an analysts’ estimate of 208,000 claims.
Nonetheless, initial jobless claims had soared to an all-time high 6.149 million on early-April, 2020. On top of that, continuing claims fell to 1.716 million over the week that ended on December 18, marking off the lowest reading since March 7, 2020, just a few days before the WHO (World Health Organization) had declared Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic.
Meanwhile, adding that the rapidly surging Omicron cases had yet to place its fang on US economy, economists at Jefferies, Thomas Simons and Aneta Markowska said in a client note, “The fact that NSA claims were unchanged - at a time when they typically tend to deteriorate - suggests that there has been no impact from Omicron as of yet”.