The U.S. Department of Labor’s latest weekly unemployment insurance report shows that initial jobless claims edged down to 197,000 for the week ending September 19, from a revised 198,000 the previous week. The four-week average also declined to 202,250, indicating relatively stable unemployment claims.
Meanwhile, the number of people receiving unemployment benefits rose slightly to 1.719 million, while the insured unemployment rate remained at 1.1%. Compared with a year earlier, both initial claims and insured unemployment are lower, suggesting that the labor market remains relatively resilient.
The report also shows significant differences among states. New Jersey had the highest insured unemployment rate at 2.3%, followed by Massachusetts and Puerto Rico at 1.9%, while Rhode Island was at 1.6%. California recorded the largest number of initial claims, at 35,101.
