Initial Claims for the Week Ended Aug 23
Updated: 28-Aug-25 09:29 ET





Highlights

• Initial jobless claims for the week ending August 23 decreased by 5,000 to 229,000 (Briefing.com consensus: 236,000).
• Continuing jobless claims for the week ending August 16 decreased by 7,000 to 1.954 million.

Key Factors

• The four-week moving average for initial claims increased by 2,500 to 228,500.
• The four-week moving average for continuing claims increased by 4,500 to 1,956,250.
• The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending August 9 was 1,987,457, a decrease of 18,314 from the previous week and compared to 1,883,079 in the comparable week a year ago.

Big Picture

• The key takeaway from the report is that initial jobless claims—a leading indicator-- continue to run at low levels, refuting the notion that the labor market is weak. Granted, the labor market has softened a bit, but it is not weak.

Category	Aug 23	Aug 16	Aug 9	Aug 2	Jul 26
Initial Claims	229K	234K	224K	227K	219K
4-Wk Moving Avg	229K	226K	222K	221K	221K
Continued Benefits		1954K	1961K	1942K	1968K
4-Wk Moving Avg		1956K	1952K	1948K	1950K