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Economic CalendarTier 1Department of Labor · last release Oct 1, 2026

Jobless Claims Release Dates 2026 and Market Reaction

The next Weekly Jobless Claims is scheduled for Thursday, October 8, 2026 at 8:30 AM ET. On 905 Jobless claims days since 2009, SPY's move landed in the biggest quarter of all trading days 22.5% of the time, against 25% for any day, within two standard errors (±2.9 points) of chance: by this measure a Jobless claims day is indistinguishable from a normal session. The median move was 0.52% against 0.50% on all days.

Next Jobless claimsas of 2026-10-02
Thu, Oct 8
2026 · 8:30 AM ET
Latest print · Initial Jobless Claims
197Kfrom 198K

week of Sep 26, 2026, released Oct 1, 2026

Release days in top quarter
22.5% vs 25%
Median SPY move
0.52% vs 0.50%
01

Upcoming Jobless claims dates

  • Thursday, October 8, 20268:30 AM ET
  • Thursday, October 15, 20268:30 AM ET
  • Thursday, October 22, 20268:30 AM ET
  • Thursday, October 29, 20268:30 AM ET
  • Thursday, November 5, 20268:30 AM ET
  • Thursday, November 12, 20268:30 AM ET
  • Thursday, November 19, 20268:30 AM ET
  • Wednesday, November 25, 20268:30 AM ET
  • Thursday, December 3, 20268:30 AM ET
  • Thursday, December 10, 20268:30 AM ET
  • Thursday, December 17, 20268:30 AM ET
  • Thursday, December 24, 20268:30 AM ET

Schedule: FRED release 180. Release record since 2009.

02

Does the market move on release day?

On 905 Jobless claims days since 2009, SPY's move landed in the biggest quarter of all trading days 22.5% of the time, against 25% for any day, within two standard errors (±2.9 points) of chance: by this measure a Jobless claims day is indistinguishable from a normal session. The median move was 0.52% against 0.50% on all days. SPY closed higher on 55.6% of release days against 55.0% of all days. The 10-year Treasury yield moved a median 3.3 bp either way, against 3.2 bp on all days.

Release days since 2009
905
Median |SPY move|
0.52%
all days 0.50%
In the top quarter of moves
22.5%
a normal day 25% · ±2.9 pts is chance
SPY closed higher
55.6%
all days 55.0%
Median |10-year yield move|
3.3 bp
all days 3.2 bp
Mean SPY return
+0.05%
all days +0.06%

When the headline Initial Jobless Claims came in above its prior reading (399 days), release days carried an average SPY return of +0.02%; when it came in below (471 days), an average SPY return of +0.08%.

The top quarter means a close-to-close SPY move of 1.04% or more either way, the 75th percentile of every trading day since 1993. Headline values are today's revised figures, and no consensus forecasts are used, so above and below compare each print with the previous print. This is not a surprise study: markets react to the gap between a release and what was expected.

-4.9%5.5%20222023202420252026+0.18%
SPY close-to-close move on each Jobless claims release day over the last five years
03

Recent Jobless claims releases

ReleasedPeriodInitial Jobless ClaimsPriorSPY10-year
Oct 1, 2026week of Sep 26, 2026197K198K+0.18%−5.6 bp
Sep 24, 2026week of Sep 19, 2026198K198K−0.07%+4.8 bp
Sep 17, 2026week of Sep 12, 2026198K207K+1.13%−5.9 bp
Sep 10, 2026week of Sep 5, 2026207K207K−0.59%+10.7 bp
Sep 3, 2026week of Aug 29, 2026207K204K+1.05%−3.4 bp
Aug 27, 2026week of Aug 22, 2026204K207K+0.66%+0.8 bp
Aug 20, 2026week of Aug 15, 2026207K212K−0.84%+4.3 bp
Aug 13, 2026week of Aug 8, 2026212K200K+0.70%−4.1 bp
Aug 6, 2026week of Aug 1, 2026200K198K−0.16%+5.3 bp
Jul 30, 2026week of Jul 25, 2026198K189K+1.68%+4.1 bp
Jul 23, 2026week of Jul 18, 2026189K209K−1.23%+4.6 bp
Jul 16, 2026week of Jul 11, 2026209K217K−0.54%+2.4 bp
Jul 9, 2026week of Jul 4, 2026217K217K+0.85%−3.0 bp
Jul 2, 2026week of Jun 27, 2026217K216K−0.13%+1.0 bp
Jun 25, 2026week of Jun 20, 2026216K227K+0.14%−1.0 bp
Jun 18, 2026week of Jun 13, 2026227K230K+0.78%−1.2 bp
Jun 11, 2026week of Jun 6, 2026230K225K+1.70%−7.9 bp
Jun 4, 2026week of May 30, 2026225K212K+0.38%−1.4 bp
May 28, 2026week of May 23, 2026212K210K+0.55%−2.6 bp
May 21, 2026week of May 16, 2026210K212K+0.20%+1.4 bp
May 14, 2026week of May 9, 2026212K199K+0.79%−2.0 bp
May 7, 2026week of May 2, 2026199K190K−0.31%+3.6 bp
Apr 30, 2026week of Apr 25, 2026190K215K+0.99%−2.8 bp
Apr 23, 2026week of Apr 18, 2026215K208K−0.39%+2.9 bp

Newest first. Values are today's revised data; a dash means no matched value.

04

What it measures

The weekly count of new applications for unemployment insurance, the most frequent official read on layoffs, published every Thursday.

Published by
Department of Labor (DOL)
Release time
8:30 AM ET
Schedule source
FRED release 180
05

Frequently asked questions

When is the next Jobless claims release?

The next Weekly Jobless Claims is scheduled for Thursday, October 8, 2026 at 8:30 AM ET. After that: Thursday, October 15, 2026; Thursday, October 22, 2026; Thursday, October 29, 2026. Source: Department of Labor.

What time is the Jobless claims released?

The Department of Labor publishes the Weekly Jobless Claims at 8:30 AM Eastern Time on its scheduled release days.

Does the stock market move on Jobless claims days?

On 905 Jobless claims days since 2009, SPY's move landed in the biggest quarter of all trading days 22.5% of the time, against 25% for any day, within two standard errors (±2.9 points) of chance: by this measure a Jobless claims day is indistinguishable from a normal session. The median move was 0.52% against 0.50% on all days. SPY closed higher on 55.6% of release days against 55.0% of all days. The 10-year Treasury yield moved a median 3.3 bp either way, against 3.2 bp on all days.

How did the market react to the last Jobless claims release?

On Thursday, October 1, 2026, SPY moved +0.18% close to close and the 10-year Treasury yield −5.6 bp. The headline Initial Jobless Claims read 197K against 198K before.