A tight U.S. labor market has kept applications for unemployment benefits close to record lows for the past two months, while workers calling in sick because of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 have increased pressure on employers.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal estimate that initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell slightly to 200,000 for the week ended Jan. 8, from 207,000 the prior week. Initial claims and their four-week moving average—which smooths out volatility in the weekly figures—have in recent weeks continued to hover near their lowest levels since 1969.
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