The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility, fell by 10,5000 to 243,250.

Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak will hold a virtual press conference Thursday morning. 

Last week, the Labor Department reported a surprising burst of hiring in January, with employers adding 467,000 jobs.

The resident was fully vaccinated but not boosted, and has since recovered from the illness. 

The show moved from its original date of Jan. 31 amid growing concerns surrounding the Omicron variant.

Despite the increases, the numbers show that claims remained below the 220,000 typical before the pandemic struck.

The World Health Organization says a record 9.5 million cases of COVID-19 were tallied around the world over the last week. 

The first COVID-19 Omicron variant case confirmed through sequencing was reported Dec. 20, 2021.