The number of American workers filing unemployment claims declined as expected this week as US companies and workers weather the effects of the Omicron variant.

Workers filed 260,000 initial jobless claims for the week ending on Jan. 22, the Labor Department said in a release. The number of claims was down 30,000 compared to the previous week’s revised tally, when claims unexpectedly surged to 290,000.

Unemployment claims, which are seen as a proxy for layoffs, declined on a weekly basis for the first time in 2022. Economists had projected jobless claims would decline by 21,000 to 265,000 for the week.