Initial jobless claims fell to 197,000 in the week ending Sep 26
Continuing claims fell for a fourth week in a row to 1,701,000, the lowest since the week ending Apr 1, 2023, the Labor Department reported.
Macro Bullseye · · Updated
Initial jobless claims fell to 197,000 in the week ending Sep 26, the Labor Department reported. That was down 1,000 from 198,000 in the week ending Sep 19. It was the lowest level since the week ending Jul 18, when claims were 189,000.
The numbers
Week ending Sep 26 data · released Thu, Oct 1
- Initial jobless claims
- 197,000Week ending Sep 19: 198,000
- Continuing claims (Week ending Sep 19)
- 1,701,000Week ending Sep 12: 1,712,000
View the data as a table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| Week ending Sep 26 | 197,000 |
| Week ending Sep 19 | 198,000 |
| Week ending Sep 12 | 198,000 |
| Week ending Sep 5 | 207,000 |
| Week ending Aug 29 | 207,000 |
| Week ending Aug 22 | 204,000 |
| Week ending Aug 15 | 207,000 |
| Week ending Aug 8 | 212,000 |
| Week ending Aug 1 | 200,000 |
| Week ending Jul 25 | 198,000 |
| Week ending Jul 18 | 189,000 |
| Week ending Jul 11 | 209,000 |
| Week ending Jul 4 | 217,000 |
| Week ending Jun 27 | 217,000 |
| Week ending Jun 20 | 216,000 |
| Week ending Jun 13 | 227,000 |
| Week ending Jun 6 | 230,000 |
| Week ending May 30 | 225,000 |
| Week ending May 23 | 212,000 |
| Week ending May 16 | 210,000 |
| Week ending May 9 | 212,000 |
| Week ending May 2 | 199,000 |
| Week ending Apr 25 | 190,000 |
| Week ending Apr 18 | 215,000 |
| Week ending Apr 11 | 208,000 |
| Week ending Apr 4 | 218,000 |
Source: Department of Labor, via FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis). Revised figures replace earlier ones.Full release
Claims were well below the 225,000 recorded a year earlier, in the week ending Sep 27, 2025. Claims have stayed between 197,000 and 212,000 since the week ending Jul 25.
Continuing claims, which run one week behind the headline figure, fell to 1,701,000 in the week ending Sep 19. That was down 11,000 from 1,712,000 the week before. It was the fourth straight weekly decline and the lowest since the week ending Apr 1, 2023, when it was 1,694,000. A year earlier, continuing claims were 1,921,000.
Initial claims are the most up-to-date read on layoffs. A steady climb over several weeks often shows up before a weaker jobs report. The next release is due Thursday, October 8, at 8:30 AM ET, covering the week ending Oct 3.
What it means for your money
- Low first-time claims point to few layoffs. That tends to support household paychecks and job security.
- Continuing claims at their lowest since the week ending Apr 1, 2023 suggest people who lose jobs are finding new ones or leaving the benefit rolls.
- A steady climb in claims over several weeks often comes before a weaker jobs report. This release showed no such climb.
Drafted by AI (Claude) from the official data and published only after an automatic check that every number in the text matches the figures above. Not investment advice. How we write these