New applications for US unemployment benefits slipped to 197,000 in the week ended September 26, down 1,000 from the prior week’s revised 198,000, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. The reading was below the 200,000 median forecast in a Reuters poll and marked the lowest level since mid-July, according to the Associated Press. The four-week moving average, which reduces the noise in weekly data, fell by 2,500 to 200,000.
The latest figures show that layoffs remain limited even as employers face higher energy costs and a less certain economic backdrop. Reuters said claims are close to lows last seen nearly 57 years ago, while AP noted that weekly filings have stayed below 220,000 for most of 2026. The reports linked that resilience partly to firms’ reluctance to release workers after the labor shortages that followed the pandemic, as well as to solid domestic demand and corporate profitability.
Continuing claims, which count people receiving benefits after an initial week and are reported with a one-week lag, fell by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.701 million in the week ended September 19. That was below the 1.725 million expected in the market estimate cited by InvestingLive and down from a revised 1.712 million in the prior week. The decline points to a lower stock of benefit recipients, though Reuters cautioned that some displaced workers are still spending long periods without work.
The low level of layoffs sits alongside more restrained hiring. Reuters reported that US employers announced 43,281 planned job cuts in September, 18% fewer than in August and 20% below the same month a year earlier, citing data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Announced hiring plans rose to 90,787 during the month but were still 23% lower than a year earlier and were the weakest for any September since 2011. AP said employers have added an average of 80,000 jobs a month so far in 2026, including 162,000 in August, a pace that remains below the averages recorded in 2023 and 2024.
What it means for traders: the report gives the dollar market a fresh indication that the US labor market is still being supported by low layoffs. For EUR/USD and USD/JPY, a continued run of sub-200,000 claims would be consistent with labor demand holding up and could keep attention on the possibility that interest rates remain restrictive. A renewed rise in claims or continuing claims would point in the opposite direction by suggesting that job losses are spreading or that unemployed workers are taking longer to find new positions. Thursday’s release by itself does not settle that question, particularly because weekly claims can be volatile.
The next major test is the September employment report due next week. Reuters’ survey expects nonfarm payrolls to rise by 90,000 after a gain of 162,000 in August, with the unemployment rate holding at 4.1% for a third month. Reuters also noted that the latest claims week falls outside the payroll survey period, so the 197,000 figure does not feed directly into that report. Traders will therefore watch the payroll total, unemployment rate and subsequent weekly claims together for confirmation of whether low layoffs continue to offset cautious hiring.