Jobless claims fall to 189,000, fewest since mid-July

Monthly hiring averages 68,000, compared with 9,700 in 2025

The Labor Department reported Thursday that 189,000 people sought unemployment benefits last week, down from 195,000 a week earlier and the fewest total since mid-July. The four-week average of claims, which smooths week-to-week ups and downs, dipped to 194,750.

Claims have remained at historically low levels in the year to date. They have never topped 230,000 in a single week and have come in at or below 200,000 for eight straight weeks.

The report described layoffs as scarce and said most workers enjoyed job security. Applications for jobless benefits serve as a proxy for layoffs, and economists watch the figures because they can provide signs of where the job market is headed.

Hiring has remained modest. Employers — including companies, government agencies and nonprofits — have added an average of 68,000 jobs a month this year, including 29,000 last month. The pace is modest by historic standards.

The report compared this year’s average with 9,700 monthly job creations in 2025. It said high interest rates and President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policies discouraged hiring that year. The current average represents an improvement over that lackluster year while remaining modest by historical standards.

Consumer spending has remained resilient, while a surge in investment in artificial intelligence has lifted economic growth. The report included those developments as part of the broader economic context for employers’ continued hiring.

The Labor Department will release its October hiring numbers Friday. Forecasters surveyed by FactSet expected the economy to add 65,000 jobs in October, with unemployment remaining at 4.2%. Those figures were forecasts ahead of the release, not the Labor Department’s reported employment result.

Taken together, Thursday’s data show a labor market with scarce layoffs and modest job creation. The claims figures supplied the latest reading on layoffs, while Friday’s Labor Department release will provide the broader employment data on hiring and unemployment.