Updated: 14-May-26 09:21 ET

Initial Claims for the Week Ended May 09

Updated: 14-May-26 09:21 ET

Highlights

• Initial jobless claims for the week ending May 9 increased by 12,000 to 211,000 (Briefing.com consensus: 208,000).
• Continuing jobless claims for the week ending May 2 increased by 24,000 to 1.782 million.

Key Factors

• The four-week moving average for initial claims increased by 750 to 203,750.
• The four-week moving average for continuing claims decreased by 6,750 to 1,781,000.
• The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending April 25 was 1,757,234, a decrease of 50,399from the previous week. Claims filed in the comparable week a year ago totaled 1,868,054.

Big Picture

• The key takeaway from the report is that, even though initial and continuing jobless claims were up in the latest week, neither has risen to a level that would ring alarm bells about a serious deterioration in the labor market.

Category	May 9	May 2	Apr 25	Apr 18	Apr 11
Initial Claims	211K	199K	190K	215K	208K
4-Wk Moving Avg	204K	203K	208K	211K	210K
Continued Benefits		1782K	1758K	1776K	1808K
4-Wk Moving Avg		1781K	1788K	1795K	1809K