Weekly Jobless Claims Rise, Continuing Applications Hit Highest Since November 2021

02:31 PM EDT, 08/07/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Weekly applications for unemployment insurance in the US rose more than expected, while continuing claims reached the highest since November 2021, government data showed Thursday.

For the week ended Aug. 2, the seasonally adjusted number of initial claims increased to 226,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised reading of 219,000, the Department of Labor said. The consensus was for an increase to a level of 222,000 in a Bloomberg poll.

The four-week moving average totaled 220,750, down by 500 from the prior week's upwardly revised average. Unadjusted claims rose by 1,198 on a weekly basis to 194,988.

Seasonally adjusted continuing claims totaled 1.97 million for the week ended July 26, the highest since Nov. 6, 2021, and ahead of Wall Street's views for a 1.95 million reading. Continuing claims rose by 38,000 from the previous week's downwardly revised level. The four-week moving average increased by 5,000 to 1.95 million from the prior week's average that was revised down by 2,500, according to the DOL.

On Friday, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed the US economy added fewer jobs than projected in July, while gains in the previous two months were revised sharply lower. The unemployment rate moved up to 4.2% from 4.1% in June.

"The recent revisions to the payroll data show a much slower trajectory of job growth over the past three months than what was previously understood to be the case," Jefferies Chief US Economist Thomas Simons said in a note e-mailed to MT Newswires Thursday.

The Federal Reserve should ease its monetary policy to avoid a potential deterioration in the labor market, governors Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller -- who dissented with the central bank's recent decision to again hold rates steady -- said Friday. At the Fed's July meeting, both Bowman and Waller preferred a 25-basis-point reduction in its benchmark lending rate.

"Job growth has slowed, but we do not see any evidence of increased slack in the labor market either," Simons said Thursday. "The sideways drift in initial and continuing claims in recent months suggests that layoff activity is muted."

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