Initial jobless claims fall to 196,000; continuing claims drop to 1.73 million

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 196,000 in the week ending September 12, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average declined by 2,750 to 203,250.

Continuing claims move on a one-week lag. They fell by 39,000 to 1.73 million in the week ending September 5, after the prior week was revised down to 1.769 million. The insured unemployment rate fell from 1.2 percent to 1.1 percent.

The raw count also declined. The release records 152,286 unadjusted first claims, down 24,630 from the prior week and below the comparable 2025 count of 195,433.