New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell to 194,000 in the week ended Oct. 24, 2026, signaling that layoffs remained limited even as households faced elevated prices and borrowing costs. The figures were released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Initial claims, which measure new applications for unemployment insurance, dropped by 1,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 195,000. Claims remained close to the 57-year low recorded in the latest period. The recent low was 189,000 in mid-July, the Labor Department data showed.
“In the week ending October 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 194,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level.” — U.S. Department of Labor
Continuing claims also declined
The number of people continuing to receive unemployment benefits decreased as well. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment stood at 1.701 million in the week ended Oct. 17, down by 21,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 1.722 million.
| Measure | Latest figure | Weekly change |
|---|---|---|
| Initial claims, week ended Oct. 24 | 194,000 | Down 1,000 |
| Four-week average of initial claims | 196,750 | Down 1,250 |
| Continuing claims, week ended Oct. 17 | 1.701 million | Down 21,000 |
| Insured unemployment rate | 1.1% | Unchanged |
The underlying averages were mixed
The four-week moving average of initial claims declined to 196,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 198,000. The average is used to smooth out weekly fluctuations. By contrast, the four-week average of insured unemployment increased by 500 to 1.710 million.
The Labor Department revised the prior week’s initial-claims figure upward by 1,000, from 194,000 to 195,000. It also revised the previous continuing-claims figure downward by 6,000, from 1.728 million to 1.722 million.
Unadjusted claims rose during the week
Before seasonal adjustments, actual initial claims under state unemployment programs increased by 5,648, or 3.3%, to 178,851 in the week ended Oct. 24. Seasonal factors had projected an increase of 6,040 claims, or 3.5%.
Unadjusted initial claims were 203,012 in the comparable week of 2025. The advance unadjusted insured-unemployment rate was 1%, unchanged from the prior week. Taken together, the figures showed continued stability in the labor market, with both new and continuing claims remaining at relatively low levels in the latest reports.
- Seasonally adjusted initial claims fell to 194,000 for the week ended Oct. 24.
- Continuing claims declined to 1.701 million for the week ended Oct. 17.
- The seasonally adjusted insured-unemployment rate remained at 1.1%.
