Initial Jobless Claims
197K
· Jul 2026
econ
scout
1969-70 Recession · Dec 1969 – Nov 1970
1973-75 Recession · Nov 1973 – Mar 1975
1980 Recession · Jan 1980 – Jul 1980
1981-82 Recession · Jul 1981 – Nov 1982
1990-91 Recession · Jul 1990 – Mar 1991
2001 Recession · Mar 2001 – Nov 2001
Global Financial Crisis · Dec 2007 – Jun 2009
COVID-19 Recession · Feb 2020 – Apr 2020
1.0M
2.0M
3.0M
4.0M
5.0M
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
197K
Initial Jobless Claims — one value per year; US recessions are shaded on the chart.
Year
Initial Jobless Claims
1967
216K
1968
223K
1969
223K
1970
321K
1971
244K
1972
225K
1973
300K
1974
537K
1975
391K
1976
333K
1977
364K
1978
358K
1979
428K
1980
399K
1981
556K
1982
489K
1983
372K
1984
379K
1985
390K
1986
345K
1987
316K
1988
304K
1989
358K
1990
454K
1991
441K
1992
313K
1993
290K
1994
319K
1995
359K
1996
357K
1997
303K
1998
336K
1999
268K
2000
353K
2001
421K
2002
409K
2003
349K
2004
320K
2005
302K
2006
341K
2007
360K
2008
533K
2009
468K
2010
404K
2011
376K
2012
362K
2013
332K
2014
285K
2015
276K
2016
244K
2017
248K
2018
238K
2019
231K
2020
773K
2021
217K
2022
205K
2023
200K
2024
212K
2025
203K
2026
197K
Source: FRED · ICSA · econscout.com