US Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Increase in the Week Ending January 17

On Thursday, the US Department of Labor reported that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 200,000 for the week ending Saturday, January 17, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 199,000 (originally 198,000). The four-week moving average was 201,500—a decrease of 3,750 from the prior week’s revised average of 205,250 (originally 205,000). This marked the lowest level for the four-week average since January 13, 2024.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 10 was 1,849,000, a decrease of 26,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,875,000 (originally 1,884,000). The four-week moving average was 1,870,750—a decrease of 16,250 from the prior week’s revised average of 1,887,000 (originally 1,889,250).

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending January 10, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.