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Initial Jobless Claims

New unemployment-insurance claims filed each week.

229K
Number · latest, Jun 2026
vs prior month ▲ 1.8%
vs year ago ▼ 0.9%
1969-70 Recession · Dec 1969 – Nov 19701973-75 Recession · Nov 1973 – Mar 19751980 Recession · Jan 1980 – Jul 19801981-82 Recession · Jul 1981 – Nov 19821990-91 Recession · Jul 1990 – Mar 19912001 Recession · Mar 2001 – Nov 2001Global Financial Crisis · Dec 2007 – Jun 2009COVID-19 Recession · Feb 2020 – Apr 20201.0M2.0M3.0M4.0M5.0M197019801990200020102020229K

Hover the line to read any month. Drag across the chart to zoom; double-click to reset.

Source: FRED · ICSA · series · Jan 1967 to Jun 2026 · latest-revised

Reading it. One of the most timely labor indicators, reported weekly. Rising claims signal layoffs; the level is volatile week to week, so it is usually read as a multi-week trend.

About the bands. Shaded spans are NBER-dated US recessions, drawn as factual overlays. They mark when the economy contracted, not why. Lining an event or policy up with a move on this chart is not evidence that it caused the move.

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