U.S. Jobless Claims Rose Last Week
By Jessica Coacci
U.S. jobless claims ticked up last week, but were still in a range suggestive of a healthy labor market.
The number of people who filed for unemployment benefits was 199,000 in the week through Aug. 1 compared with the 198,000 reported a week earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal were expecting to see 204,000 new claims.
Continuing claims, which scale with the total size of the unemployed population, were 1.8 million in the week through July 25, versus 1.78 million a week earlier. The data on continuing claims lag the initial-claims data by a week.
A separate report from global-outplacement and executive-coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that U.S.-based employers announced 33,429 job cuts in July, down 27% from the 45,849 cuts announced in June. While the technology sector has continued to lead announced job cuts, recent jobless-claims data suggest employers are holding back from any widespread layoff plans.
A broader look into the labor market will come Friday, when the Labor Department releases its employment-situation report for July.
Write to Jessica Coacci at jessica.coacci@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 06, 2026 08:54 ET (12:54 GMT)
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