The latest numbers of unemployment do not appear to reflect on fast growing omicron variant of coronavirus. According to figures of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment during December stood at 3.9%. In Florida, the unemployment claims were around the same levels as they in period prior to COVID pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Labor posted stated that 3,982 unemployment claims were filed in Florida during the holiday shortened week which ended on December 25. If this number remain unchanged, this will be the lowest number of claims for a single week since the holiday week of December 2019. The average claims for the last four weeks will stand at 5,347. During the same period prior to March 15, 2020 the weekly average of jobless claims was 5, 367.

Omicron Variant is Not Affecting Employment

Unemployment claims saw a hike to 74,313 during the week that ended March 21, 2020 and the number peaked to 506,670 in the week which ended on April 18, 2020. More than 1.4 million Floridian were laid off during April 2020. However, the pace of unemployment claims eased during the past year as U.S. economy is on road to recovery. This was a result of massive federal stimulus money and a comprehensive free vaccination program launched across the country.

Unemployment Claims are Down Across the Country

The latest numbers of the unemployment claims do not appear to show signs of an impact of the fast-spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus. Countrywide, 198,000 unemployment claims were filed during last week of December. This was down by 8,000 from the prior week. The national weekly average in November marked the lowest number of unemployment claims for the since October 25, 1969.

Government Efforts to Bring Workforce Back

For Florida, the estimated weekly claims for the week ended on December 25, 2021 was down from a revised count of 5,160 from week ended on December 18, 2021. State leaders ramped up their efforts in May to get Floridians back to work. They withdrew two federal assistance programs and reinstated a “work search” requirement for people seeking unemployment benefits.

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