Americans filing for unemployment benefits increased in the week ending Jan. 1, running contradictory to analyst expectations, and may be a precursor to the coming weeks where more workers are expected to get laid off with one of the main reasons being Omicron-related business continuity issues. “[T]he advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 207,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level,” according to a news release (pdf) Thursday by the labor department. “The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 198,000 to 200,000. The 4-week moving average was 204,500, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 199,250 to 199,750.” The number of seasonally adjusted unemployed in the United States was approximately 1,754,000 during the week ending Dec. 25, an increase of 36,000 from the previous week. “The 4-week moving average was …