- The four-week moving average for jobless claims, which smooths weekly volatility, fell by 1,000 to 219,000.
- Continuing claims hovered in the 1.87 million range for the week ended February 7, increasing by 17,000 over the previous week.
- The largest increase in claims came from Texas at 2,592, followed by Virginia at 1,909, whereas the largest decrease in claims was from Pennsylvania at 3,181 and Missouri at 2,755.
Weekly jobless claims came in notably lower than expected, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday, registering the biggest drop in over two months.
Jobless claims fell by 23,000 to 206,000 in the week ended February 7. This was lower than a Dow Jones estimate of 223,000, as cited by MarketWatch. The previous week’s jobless claims level was revised up by 2,000 to 229,000, according to the Labor Department data.
The four-week moving average for jobless claims, which smooths weekly volatility, fell by 1,000 to 219,000. The previous week’s average was revised upward by 500 to 220,000.
Overall, jobless claims have been rangebound since the Sept. 13, 2025, week to date, hovering between 192,000 and 237,000. During the week of Sept. 6, 2025, jobless claims came in at 264,000.
Continuing Claims Rise
Continuing claims, which refer to the number of people claiming unemployment benefits beyond the first week, hovered in the 1.87 million range for the week ended February 7, increasing by 17,000 over the previous week. The BLS report stated that the previous week’s level was revised down by 10,000 to 1.85 million.
The largest increase in claims came from Texas at 2,592, followed by Virginia at 1,909, whereas the largest decrease in claims was from Pennsylvania at 3,181 and Missouri at 2,755.
Stabilizing Labor Market
The jobless claims report comes a day after the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) minutes of the January meeting. The minutes stated that the vast majority of participants “judged that labor market conditions had been showing some signs of stabilization and that downside risks to the labor market had diminished.”
The minutes also noted that almost all participants observed that while the level of layoffs remained low, hiring remained low as well. However, several participants also expressed concerns that their business contacts continued to express caution in hiring decisions, reflecting uncertainty about the economic outlook and the effect of AI and other automation technologies on the labor market.
Meanwhile, U.S. equities declined in Thursday’s opening trade. At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was down by 0.09%, the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) declined 0.14%, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) fell 0.35%. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘neutral’ territory.
The iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) was down by 0.04% at the time of writing.
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