U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Slip to 197,000 as Continuing Claims Fall to 1.701 Million

New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits edged lower in the latest week, while the number of people continuing to receive benefits also declined, leaving weekly claims measures near the lower end of their range over the past year.

The Labor Department reported that seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims totaled 197,000 in the week ended Sept. 26, down 1,000 from the prior week’s revised 198,000. The four-week moving average fell by 2,500 to 200,000, smoothing out some of the volatility in the weekly series.

Continuing claims, which are reported with a one-week lag, declined by 11,000 to 1.701 million in the week ended Sept. 19. The insured unemployment rate remained at 1.1%. The Labor Department’s weekly claims release also showed the four-week average of continuing claims falling by 18,500 to 1.724 million.

Claims remain below year-ago levels

The latest readings are lower than the comparable figures from a year earlier. Initial claims stood at 225,000 in the corresponding week of 2025, while insured unemployment was 1.921 million. The four-week averages were also higher a year ago, at 234,000 for initial claims and 1.922 million for insured unemployment.

That comparison suggests fewer workers are entering the unemployment insurance system and fewer remain on benefits than at the same point last year. It does not, by itself, measure the full unemployment rate or all job losses. Weekly claims cover people filing for unemployment insurance and therefore capture only a portion of labor-market conditions.

The unadjusted data moved in the same direction. Actual initial claims under state programs fell by 7,979 to 156,738 in the week ended Sept. 26, a 4.8% decrease. Seasonal factors had anticipated a 4.1% decline. In the comparable week of 2025, unadjusted initial claims totaled 179,162.

Unadjusted insured unemployment fell by 47,267 to 1.498 million in the week ended Sept. 19. The unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.0%, unchanged from the prior week and below the 1.1% rate recorded a year earlier.

The recent trend has moved lower after a summer rise

Weekly claims have fluctuated through 2026, but the latest readings are below several of the higher levels recorded earlier in the year. Initial claims reached 230,000 in early February and again in early June before easing over the summer. The Sept. 26 reading of 197,000 is close to the 190,000 to 200,000 range seen at several points since late April.

Continuing claims have followed a broader downward path from early 2026 levels. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment was 1.875 million in the week ended Jan. 3 and remained above 1.8 million through much of the first half of the year. By Sept. 19 it had fallen to 1.701 million. Because continuing claims measure people who remain eligible and keep filing after an initial claim, the decline can reflect a mix of people finding work, exhausting benefits or leaving the covered unemployment system.

The four-week averages reinforce the recent softening in claims. Initial claims averaged 200,000 in the latest four weeks, down from 202,500 in the prior four-week period. Continuing claims averaged 1.724 million, down from 1.742 million. Moving averages are useful because individual weekly readings can be affected by holidays, temporary shutdowns and other short-lived factors.

The Labor Department also reported that no state was triggered onto the Extended Benefits program during the week ended Sept. 12. Among the latest available state-level insured unemployment rates, New Jersey recorded the highest at 2.1%, followed by Massachusetts and Washington at 1.8% each. Those state figures are reported on a different timetable from the national advance claims data.

Tomorrow’s jobs report will provide a broader labor-market check

Weekly claims are only one part of the labor-market picture. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed 7.1 million job openings in August, with hires at 5.2 million and layoffs and discharges at 1.6 million, all little changed from the prior month. The August employment report showed payrolls increasing by 162,000 and the unemployment rate holding at 4.1%.

The next major data point arrives quickly. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has scheduled the September Employment Situation report for Oct. 2 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. That report will provide a broader look at payroll growth, unemployment, labor-force participation, hours and wages for September.

The claims data heading into that release show no sharp increase in layoffs at the national level. Initial claims are running below year-ago levels and their four-week average has declined, while continuing claims have also moved lower. Those readings point to relatively limited stress in the unemployment insurance system, though they cannot determine on their own whether hiring or overall job growth strengthened in September.

The separation between the reference periods also matters. The 197,000 initial-claims figure covers the week ended Sept. 26, while the 1.701 million continuing-claims figure covers the week ended Sept. 19. The two measures therefore should not be treated as observations from exactly the same week, even though they are released together.