Number of U.S. workers filing for jobless aid stays near historic low

As 2021 comes to a close, the number of U.S. workers filing for jobless aid is hovering near a 50-year low, underscoring how tight the labor market has become in the wake of a global pandemic.

Just 205,000 people filed for first-time unemployment benefits in the week ended December 18, unchanged from the prior week, the Labor Department said Thursday. A total of 1.9 million Americans were collecting traditional unemployment aid as of mid-December, down from 5.6 million a year ago.

The latest figures suggest that the spread of the hyper-infectious Omicron variant has not yet triggered a wave of layoffs, as has happened with previous waves of the coronavirus.