Jobs · October 1, 2026 · 1 min read

Initial jobless claims fall to 197,000 for September 26 week

Published October 1, 2026 • Updated October 1, 2026

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DOL reports 197,000 seasonally adjusted initial claims for the September 26 week, down 1,000 from revised 198,000. Continuing claims cover September 19 and fell to 1.701 million.

The Labor Department's October 1, 2026 weekly release reports advance seasonally adjusted initial unemployment insurance claims of 197,000 for the week ending September 26. That is a decrease of 1,000 from the prior week's revised level of 198,000. The previous week was revised upward by 1,000, so comparisons should use the revised baseline. The four-week moving average was 200,000, down 2,500 from the previous revised average of 202,500. A moving average smooths weekly changes but remains a measure of claims, not a count of net jobs created or a forecast of tomorrow's employment report. Continuing claims use a different reference week. The advance seasonally adjusted number of insured unemployed people was 1,701,000 for the week ending September 19, down 11,000 from a revised 1,712,000. The insured unemployment rate was 1.1%, unchanged. These figures do not cover every unemployed person. The four-week average of insured unemployment was 1,723,750, down 18,500 from the previous revised average. Initial and continuing claims are different measures and should not be added together or described as data from the same week. This brief omits market-consensus forecasts and broad claims about employer confidence or economic resilience because the release establishes the claims figures, not those interpretations.

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