Continuing claims, or the number of Americans who are consecutively receiving unemployment aid, rose to 1.635 million, an increase of 84,000 from the week's previous level.<\/p>\n
The report shows that roughly 2.13 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits for the week ending Jan. 1, an increase of 180,114 from the previous week; by comparison, just a little over one year ago, an estimated 16.94 million Americans were receiving benefits. <\/p>\n
Claims have largely moderated near pre-pandemic levels as the economy recovers and Americans continue traveling, shopping and eating out. Businesses have struggled to keep up with the demand, however, and have reported difficulties in onboarding new employees. Thursday's report suggests that companies are making an effort to retain the workers they already have.<\/p>\n
A man wearing a mask walks past a “now hiring” sign on Melrose Avenue amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 22, 2021, in Los Angeles, California.\u00a0<\/span> (Alexi Rosenfeld\/Getty Images \/ Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n The Labor Department reported earlier this month that there were 10.6 million open jobs<\/u> at the end of November. Though a slight decline from October, it's still a staggeringly high figure; there are about 3.7 million more open jobs than unemployed Americans looking for work.<\/p>\n But there is growing unease on Capitol Hill over a stunning rise in cases driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant. The U.S. is now reporting a seven-day moving average of more than 122,000 cases.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxbusiness.com\/foxbusiness.com\/content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/931\/523\/Jobs-Now-Hiring-.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
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