Initial unemployment claims dropped unexpectedly last week to a level rarely seen in more than half a century, according to Labor Department data released Thursday, as reported by Breitbart.
Claims declined by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 196,000 for the week ended September 12. Economists had projected roughly 207,000, making the drop a surprise to forecasters. The four-week moving average, which irons out weekly volatility and is often viewed as a truer gauge of the labor market’s underlying strength, fell by 2,750 to 203,250.
The reading places the weekly figure among the lowest ever recorded in the modern era of jobless data. Since 1969, the weekly initial claims number has dipped to this level only four times before this year, and no single week from 1970 through 2018 saw claims this low.
A Year of Historically Low Claims
So far this year, claims have averaged 210,216, the lowest average through the same number of weeks since 1969 and the third lowest of all time in data going back to 1967. The year-to-date through September average has not been this low in 57 years.
Continuing claims, which track people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, dropped to 1.73 million in the prior week, the lowest since 2024, Breitbart reported.
Weekly claims figures can swing sharply, particularly around holidays—last week included Labor Day—which may have influenced the latest reading. Despite that caveat, the broader downward trend in the four-week average points to a labor market that continues to churn out very few layoffs by historical standards.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2026/09/17/jobless-claims-sept-12/