U.S. Jobless Claims Continue to Tumble
By Dean Seal
U.S. jobless claims moved lower for the fourth week in a row, the latest sign that the economy is holding strong despite rising prices and weak consumer sentiment.
The number of people who filed for unemployment benefits was 197,000 in the week through Sept. 26, 1,000 lower than the revised 198,000 reported a week earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal were expecting to see the figure tick up to 200,000.
Continuing claims, which scale with the total size of the unemployed population, totaled 1.7 million in the week through Sept. 19, falling by 11,000 from the downwardly revised total a week earlier. The data on continuing claims lag the initial-claims data by a week.
The data fits neatly with Wednesday's reports that the economy grew better than expected in the second quarter, driven by strong consumer spending. Americans are largely still employed and still spending despite higher prices and concerns about the direction of the economy.
Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 01, 2026 09:01 ET (13:01 GMT)
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