the numbers applications for us unemployment benefits surged by55000 last week to 286000 and hit a more than threemonth high suggesting the omicron outbreak spurred more layoffs or people not working in early january economists polled by the wall street journal had forecast initial jobless claims to total a seasonally adjusted 225000 in the seven days ended jan 15 the number of people already collecting jobless benefits meanwhile rose by 84000 to 164 million the labor department said thursday these socalled continuing claims have returned to precrisis levels big picture the record omicron wave kept more people out of work the past month and may have spurred temporary layoffs the end of holidayseason jobs was likely another contributor yet the number of people losing jobs is still extremely low and likely to stay that way businesses are struggling to hire amid the worst labor shortage in decades and stiff competition for workers that suggest strong demand for goods and services and bodes well for the us economy market reaction the dow jones industrial average djia and sp 500 spx were set to open higher in thursday trades stocks have retreated recently as interest rates have risen higher yields tend to hurt equities