Weekly Jobless Claims Hold Steady, Continuing Applications Hit Lowest Since November

01:33 PM EST, 01/22/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Weekly applications for unemployment insurance largely held steady after slipping below the 200,000 level earlier this month, while continuing claims fell to the lowest since November.

For the week through Jan. 17, the seasonally adjusted number of initial claims rose by 1,000 to 200,000, the Department of Labor said Thursday. The consensus was for an increase to 209,000 in a Bloomberg survey. The previous week's reading was revised higher by 1,000 to 199,000.

The four-week moving average totaled 201,500, the lowest since Jan. 13, 2024, the DOL said. That represented a drop of 3,750 from the prior week's average, which was revised higher by 250.

"Claims continue to show limited layoff activity, and the steady decline in continuing claims shows that workers who are let go from their jobs are having an incrementally easier time finding a new one," Jefferies Chief US Economist Thomas Simons said in a report e-mailed to MT Newswires.

Seasonally adjusted continuing claims for the week ended Jan. 10 totaled 1.85 million, the lowest since the end of November and below Wall Street's views for a reading of 1.89 million. Continuing claims dropped by 26,000 from the previous week's level, which was revised down by 9,000. The four-week moving average fell by 16,250, according to the DOL.

"Private sector businesses have done well to preserve margin by reducing labor costs via attrition, shorter hours and part-time employment (often demanded by workers) to mitigate slack, rather than mass layoffs," Simons said.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold the benchmark lending rate steady next week, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The central bank cut its rate by a total of 75 basis points at its last three monetary policy meetings amid concerns about the labor market.

"Unless inflation materially decelerates or the employment picture unexpectedly deteriorates, there is no justification -- let alone a sense of urgency -- for the Fed to take further action at this point," Stifel Chief Economist Lindsey Piegza said in a report on Thursday.

Last week, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said the US central bank should keep the door open to rate cuts amid a fragile labor market.

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