How many people filed for unemployment last week?

In the week ending 10/17/2026, 194,000 people filed initial claims for unemployment benefits, seasonally adjusted. Before seasonal adjustment, states counted 172,390 initial claims.

What is the difference between initial and continued claims?

An initial claim is a new application for unemployment benefits after a job loss. Continued claims count the weeks of benefits claimed by people who are already receiving them, so they track how many people are still unemployed and collecting benefits.

Why do the state totals differ from the national headline?

The headline number is seasonally adjusted to remove regular patterns such as holiday layoffs. State figures are not seasonally adjusted, and states revise their reports after the first release.

Checked Oct 26, 2026

Weekly Jobless Claims

Unemployment insurance claims reported each week by the U.S. Department of Labor and the states

Initial claims: 194,000; Seasonally adjusted, week ending 10/17/2026
4-week average: 197,750; Seasonally adjusted
Continued claims: 1,728,000; Seasonally adjusted, week ending 10/10/2026
Insured unemployment rate: 1.1%; Seasonally adjusted

National figures are from the Labor Department release of 10/22/2026. The latest week is an advance estimate and is usually revised the following week.

Initial claims by week

All states combined, not seasonally adjusted. Claims rise every January and in early July.

Claims by state, week ending 10/17/2026

Initial claims filed that week. Continued claims are for the week ending 10/10/2026. Not seasonally adjusted.

Swipe the table sideways to see more columns.

State	Initial claims	Change from prior week	Continued claims	Insured unemployment rate
Alabama	1,450	-286	6,789	0.3%
Alaska	533	-32	3,328	1.0%
Arizona	2,394	-78	20,092	0.6%
Arkansas	1,144	-305	4,607	0.4%
California	38,540	-1,919	299,460	1.7%
Colorado	3,082	-292	29,132	1.0%
Connecticut	2,029	-219	18,770	1.1%
Delaware	437	-28	4,085	0.9%
District of Columbia	579	-88	6,602	1.2%
Florida	5,041	-973	29,799	0.3%
Georgia	3,647	-49	22,724	0.5%
Hawaii	1,376	+39	7,335	1.2%
Idaho	701	-82	3,949	0.5%
Indiana	2,062	-714	17,263	0.5%
Iowa	1,164	+8	6,290	0.4%
Kentucky	2,516	+471	8,478	0.4%
Louisiana	1,179	-82	5,423	0.3%
Maine	496	+35	3,966	0.6%
Maryland	2,000	-250	20,999	0.8%
Massachusetts	4,242	-263	61,651	1.7%
Michigan	7,518	+1,908	39,063	0.9%
Minnesota	3,120	-109	30,495	1.0%
Mississippi	873	-137	5,618	0.5%
Missouri	1,960	-395	13,999	0.5%
Montana	612	-17	3,872	0.8%
Nebraska	475	-52	4,293	0.4%
Nevada	2,596	-231	24,499	1.6%
New Hampshire	258	-23	3,193	0.5%
New Jersey	7,829	-394	84,007	2.0%
New Mexico	725	-255	8,371	1.0%
New York	11,983	-1,541	132,041	1.4%
North Carolina	2,787	-149	16,882	0.3%
North Dakota	220	-10	1,388	0.3%
Ohio	4,138	-4,483	34,580	0.6%
Oklahoma	1,223	-38	9,132	0.6%
Oregon	3,887	-68	28,790	1.5%
Pennsylvania	7,895	-1,531	70,482	1.2%
Puerto Rico	1,147	-384	14,356	1.6%
Rhode Island	660	-94	6,946	1.4%
South Carolina	2,595	+419	13,583	0.6%
South Dakota	180	-20	912	0.2%
Tennessee	3,192	-2,635	13,176	0.4%
Texas	13,364	-1,199	122,577	0.9%
U.S. Virgin Islands	27	-8	444	1.3%
Utah	1,405	-57	10,105	0.6%
Vermont	343	+58	1,874	0.6%
Virginia	1,766	-728	19,226	0.5%
Washington	5,226	-134	62,176	1.8%
West Virginia	519	-69	4,581	0.7%
Wisconsin	2,272	+55	14,340	0.5%
Wyoming	454	+63	1,211	0.4%

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Frequently asked questions

How many people filed for unemployment last week?: In the week ending 10/17/2026, 194,000 people filed initial claims for unemployment benefits, seasonally adjusted. Before seasonal adjustment, states counted 172,390 initial claims.
What is the difference between initial and continued claims?: An initial claim is a new application for unemployment benefits after a job loss. Continued claims count the weeks of benefits claimed by people who are already receiving them, so they track how many people are still unemployed and collecting benefits.
Why do the state totals differ from the national headline?: The headline number is seasonally adjusted to remove regular patterns such as holiday layoffs. State figures are not seasonally adjusted, and states revise their reports after the first release.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration · State data through the week ending 10/17/2026

Data sources

Unemployment Insurance Weekly ClaimsU.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration

State figures come from the weekly ETA 539 reports. The insured unemployment rate divides continued claims by jobs covered by unemployment insurance.

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Unemployment benefits by stateAverage weekly benefit, first payments and weeks paidOn DatenUS Jobs

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