Weekly US jobless claims fall to 197,000, near record low as layoffs remain low | Today’s news
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, pointing to a strengthening labor market.
The Labor Department says 197,000 people filed for unemployment benefits last week, down from a revised 198,000 last week.
Claims are hovering near 57-year lows, partly due to difficulties in seasonally adjusting data around floating holidays such as Labor Day. Economists have also noted what they call residual seasonality, which tends to push claims lower as the year winds down.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average of jobless claims, which helps smooth out weekly swings, also edged down to 202,250 from 204,000 a week earlier.
In fact, so far this year, damages have mostly stayed below 220,000, which is also an all-time low.
Job security remains largely intact
New data show that most Americans remain employed, suggesting that job security has largely held up.
Economists see continued claims as consistent with a stable unemployment rate. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1% in August, although data showed more people who lost their jobs were experiencing long bouts of unemployment.
“After being steady over the past few months, if continued claims remain at lower levels, that could mean the jobless rate is closer to 4% in the next few months,” Veronica Clark, an economist at Citigroup, told Reuters. “But we would caution that a lower unemployment rate due to a smaller labor force does not necessarily mean a tight labor market.”
Hiring remains modest despite a strong labor market
The U.S. labor market remained steady despite higher energy prices that have weighed on businesses and consumers since fighting with Iran began on Feb. 28.
Layoffs are low. Companies that remember the labor shortages that followed the end of pandemic lockdowns are reluctant to lay off workers. They are hiring – but modestly by the standards of recent years.
So far this year, employers — companies, government agencies and nonprofits — are adding an average of 80,000 jobs a month, including a surprising 162,000 in August. That’s an improvement from a dismal 2025, when monthly job creation averaged 9,700 as high interest rates and President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy discouraged hiring.
Read also | US jobs data: Hiring fell to just 57,000 in June, unemployment rate at 4.2%
The September jobs report is due next week
The Department of Labor will publish the September jobs report next week. It is expected to show that employers added 52,500 jobs and that the unemployment rate remained low at 4.1%, according to a survey of forecasters by data firm FactSet.
Hiring remains well below the 166,000 per month created on average in 2023 and 2024 and the 491,000 per month seen during the 2021-2022 hiring boom that followed the COVID-19 shutdown.
Read also | US job cuts rise to ‘recession-like’ level through October: Report
