They were also the highest numbers since the agency started taking the survey in April 2020 — well over last January’s peak of 6.6 million workers out. © Provided by The Washington PostThe statistics point to the substantial disruption the variant has caused businesses and workers at a key moment in the nation’s recovery. And businesses in lower-wage fields have complained for months that their operations have been hampered by a shortage of available staff. Meanwhile, applications for first-time jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, swelled last week to 286,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. And missed pay for workers without sick pay means that some household budgets will be strained.
