Initial jobless claims fell to 197,000 in the week ending Oct 3, the lowest since July
Continuing claims rose 17,000 to 1,716,000 in the week ending Sep 26, the first rise after four straight weekly declines.
Macro Bullseye ·
Initial jobless claims fell to 197,000 in the week ending Oct 3, the Labor Department reported. That was down 2,000 from 199,000 in the week ending Sep 26. It was the lowest level since the week ending Jul 18, when claims were 189,000.
The numbers
Week ending Oct 3 data · released Thu, Oct 8
- Initial jobless claims
- 197,000Week ending Sep 26: 199,000
- Continuing claims (Week ending Sep 26)
- 1,716,000Week ending Sep 19: 1,699,000
View the data as a table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| Week ending Oct 3 | 197,000 |
| Week ending Sep 26 | 199,000 |
| 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 |
Source: Department of Labor, via FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis). Revised figures replace earlier ones.Full release
Claims were well below the 233,000 filed in the week ending Oct 4, 2025. The measure counts people who filed a first claim for state unemployment benefits in the latest week.
Continuing claims rose 17,000 to 1,716,000 in the week ending Sep 26, up from 1,699,000 the week before. This figure runs one week behind the headline number. It was the first rise after four straight weekly declines, and it was still below 1,929,000 a year earlier.
Initial claims have stayed in a narrow range since mid-July. They ranged from 189,000 in the week ending Jul 18 to 212,000 in the week ending Aug 8. They have held at 199,000 or lower in each of the last four weeks.
The next report is due Thursday, October 15, at 8:30 AM ET, covering the week ending Oct 10.
What it means for your money
- Initial claims are the most current read on layoffs. Low and steady claims tend to go with fewer job losses.
- A steady climb in claims over several weeks often shows up before a weaker jobs report. This week's reading showed no such climb.
- The small rise in continuing claims is one week of data. It says little on its own about how hard it is to find a new job.
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