A chart showing initial unemployment claims since January 2020. The early months of the pandemic saw historically high numbers of layoffs each week, and the number of Americans applying for benefits stayed over a million through summer 2020. That number has more or less steadily declined to near pre-pandemic levels since, although the Omicron outbreak has caused a small uptick in January 2022.
Note: Data is seasonally adjusted. Chart shows initial claims for the week ending on the indicated date.