Initial Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Spike To Start The Year

The number of actual Americans filing for jobless benefits for the first time spiked to 419k in the first week of 2022. That is the highest since May 2021.

Seasonally-adjusted, initial claims also rose notably to 230k (against 200k expected)

Source: Bloomberg

And while continuing claims on a seasonally-adjusted basis dropped to 1.559mm – pre-COVID-lockdown levels – on a non-seasonally-adjusted basis, continuing claims jumped to 2.056mm, the highest since mid-October.

Source: Bloomberg

And overall, the number of Americans filing for some form of unemployment benefit rose from 1.722mm to 1.948mm (unadjusted)…

Source: Bloomberg

Is this the Omicron effect?