Initial Jobless Claims
Initial jobless claims count the number of people filing new claims for state unemployment benefits each week. Published every Thursday by the Department of Labor with just a one-week lag, it is one of the timeliest economic series available — capturing layoff activity in real time, long before it surfaces in the monthly jobs report.
Initial claims
Next release: Sep 10, 2026
Latest reading
As of August 29, 2026, Jobless Claims (Initial claims) stands at 206K — up from 204K the prior reading, 97% below the April 4, 2020 record of 6.14M. Single weeks are noisy thanks to holidays, weather, and seasonal quirks, so the 4-week moving average is the cleaner signal. Below ~250K points to a healthy labor market; sustained readings above ~300K have historically preceded recessions. The trend matters more than any one print — pair it with continued claims for the full picture of labor-market slack. Series history runs from 1967 to present.
Sources, methodology & freshnessLast updated 2026-09-04 · Open ↓Close ↑
Full history
Methodology & data
Jobless Claims is sourced from DOL via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (US Department of Labor via FRED (ICSA), weekly, seasonally adjusted). We pull the complete history, chart it on a weekly basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date, last updated 2026-09-04. Maintained and reviewed by Yuriy Matso; see our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Initial Jobless Claims?
Initial jobless claims count the number of people filing new claims for state unemployment benefits each week. Published every Thursday by the Department of Labor with just a one-week lag, it is one of the timeliest economic series available — capturing layoff activity in real time, long before it surfaces in the monthly jobs report.
How do you read Jobless Claims?
Single weeks are noisy thanks to holidays, weather, and seasonal quirks, so the 4-week moving average is the cleaner signal. Below ~250K points to a healthy labor market; sustained readings above ~300K have historically preceded recessions. The trend matters more than any one print — pair it with continued claims for the full picture of labor-market slack.
Where does the Jobless Claims data come from?
US Department of Labor via FRED (ICSA), weekly, seasonally adjusted. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/jobless-claims.csv.
How often is Jobless Claims updated?
Jobless Claims is a weekly series from DOL, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.
Initial claims
Next release: Sep 10, 2026