U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Plummeted in the Week of July 18
Summary
- New claims dropped by 22,000 to 187,000 in the week ending July 18, the lowest level since 1969.
- Continuing claims declined by 2,000 to 1.796 million in the week ending July 11.
- The insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.2% in the week of July 11.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped 22,000 to 187,000 in the week ending July 18, from 209,000 in the week ending July 11, revised from 208,000. This was the lowest level since September 1969. The four-week average was 207,500 in the July 18 week, down from 214,750 in the week ending July 11. The Action Economics/Haver Analytics Survey looked for 212,000 claims to have been filed.
The total number of unemployment insurance beneficiaries—also known as “continuing claims”—declined by 2,000 to 1.796 million in the week ending July 11, from 1.798 million in the week ending July 4, revised from 1.805 million. The four-week moving average edged down to 1.805 million in the July 11 week from 1.809 million in the July 4 week. The insured unemployment rate remained unchanged at 1.2% in the week of July 11. Except for a one-week dip to 1.1% in the week of April 25, the insured unemployment rate has been at 1.2% since the week of November 29, 2025.
The insured unemployment rate varies greatly across individual states and territories. In the week ending July 4, the highest unemployment rates were in Oregon (2.06%), Massachusetts (2.15%), Minnesota (2.19%), Rhode Island (2.33%), Puerto Rico (2.56%) and New Jersey (2.59%). The lowest rates were in South Dakota (0.30%), Florida (0.39%), Louisiana and North Carolina (both 0.41%), Alabama (0.45%), and Arkansas (0.48%). Rates in other notable states include California (1.88%), New York (1.76%), Pennsylvania (1.69%), Illinois (1.56%), and Texas (1.09%). These state data are not seasonally adjusted.
Data on weekly unemployment claims are from the Department of Labor itself, not the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They begin in 1967 and are contained in Haver’s WEEKLY database and summarized monthly in USECON. Data for individual states are in REGIONW back to December 1986.
Kathleen Stephansen, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Kathleen Stephansen is a Senior Economist for Haver Analytics and an Independent Trustee for the EQAT/VIP/1290 Trust Funds, encompassing the US mutual funds sponsored by the Equitable Life Insurance Company. She is a former Chief Economist of Huawei Technologies USA, Senior Economic Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group, Chief Economist of the American International Group (AIG) and AIG Asset Management’s Senior Strategist and Global Head of Sovereign Research. Prior to joining AIG in 2010, Kathleen held various positions as Chief Economist or Head of Global Research at Aladdin Capital Holdings, Credit Suisse and Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette Securities Corporation.
Kathleen serves on the boards of the Global Interdependence Center (GIC), as Vice-Chair of the GIC College of Central Bankers, is the Treasurer for Economists for Peace and Security (EPS) and is a former board member of the National Association of Business Economics (NABE). She is a member of Chatham House and the Economic Club of New York. She holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the Universite Catholique de Louvain and graduate degrees in economics from the University of New Hampshire (MA) and the London School of Economics (PhD abd).
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