By Tiffany Williams –
Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell slightly last week, signaling a modest easing in layoffs even as the broader labor market remains tight. The Department of Labor reported Thursday that for the week ending February 7, seasonally adjusted initial claims totaled 227,000, down 5,000 from the prior week’s revised figure of 232,000. The four-week moving average rose to 219,500, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week, reflecting some volatility in the weekly numbers.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate held steady at 1.2 percent for the week ending January 31, unchanged from the prior week. Meanwhile, the total number of people receiving benefits under state programs rose by 21,000 to 1,862,000. The four-week moving average for insured unemployment declined slightly to 1,846,750, its lowest level since October 2024, indicating continued labor market resilience.
Unadjusted figures showed 248,397 initial claims, a 1.8 percent decline from the previous week and slightly above the 232,745 claims recorded in the same week last year. The unadjusted insured unemployment rate remained at 1.4 percent, with 2,214,205 people receiving benefits, up 0.2 percent from the previous week.
Continued claims for all programs totaled 2,248,314 for the week ending January 24, up 76,822 from the previous week but below the 2,282,333 claims reported in the same week in 2025. Claims by former federal civilian employees rose to 615, and newly discharged veterans filed 378 initial claims. Continued claims for federal employees totaled 13,025, while veterans claiming benefits reached 4,627.
State-level data showed the highest insured unemployment rates in Rhode Island (2.9 percent), New Jersey (2.8 percent), and Massachusetts (2.7 percent). The largest increases in initial claims came in Pennsylvania (+5,268), New York (+3,141), Missouri (+2,833), New Jersey (+2,602), and Illinois (+2,203), while Nebraska (-2,146), Virginia (-980), Oklahoma (-679), Iowa (-644), and Texas (-517) saw the biggest declines.
The report underscores the uneven nature of the labor market, with overall claims remaining low but pockets of higher unemployment and claim spikes in certain states, reflecting regional variations in job stability and ongoing economic adjustments.