Omicron Absences Fail to Dent Job Growth

The U.S. labor market recovery continued in January amid a surge in Omicron infections, even though millions of workers stayed home sick or were idled by temporary business closures, causing many to be counted by the government as jobless.

Employers added 467,000 jobs in January, the Labor Department said Friday. That comes even though 3.6 million people weren’t working due to illness, up from 1.7 million in December, when Omicron caseloads began to grow exponentially.