The number of new applications for unemployment benefits remained at 205,000, the same as the week before.

The new numbers were reported on Thursday morning by the Labor Department. Over the past several weeks, new jobless claims have generally trended downward as fewer people require economic assistance. The weekly reports on jobless claims are closely watched, as they are seen as a proxy for layoffs.

Earlier this month, new claims for unemployment hit the lowest level for initial claims in 52 years, a sign that layoffs are very rare as employers try hard to hold on to workers.

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The omicron variant of COVID-19 is a new uncertainty that has now been thrown into the mix. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently found that omicron accounted for more than 73% of COVID-19 cases last week, up from about 13% the week before.

Some are concerned that, like the delta variant over the summer, people might be more apprehensive to travel, get out of the house, or spend money for fear of the virus. Less demand for businesses could result in layoffs or further problems with the recovery of the country’s labor market.

The new jobless numbers come on the tail of a worse-than-expected November jobs report last week. The economy added just 210,000 new jobs in November, far fewer than the half-million expected. One upside to the report was that the unemployment rate retreated to 4.2%, where it was in mid-2017. Regardless, the unemployment rate is still much higher than the 3.5% level it was at prior to the pandemic.

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This year has fallen flat of the economic growth initially anticipated. This month, the Federal Reserve released its updated projections for the country’s gross domestic product. Fed members revised down their GDP predictions from 5.9% in 2021 to 5.5% and changed their growth forecast from 3.8% to 4% for next year.