Initial Jobless Claims: Release Dates, Results & History
Initial Jobless Claims last printed 203K on Thu, Aug 27, 2026 against a 208K consensus forecast and a 206K prior, a -0.36 standard-deviation surprise. The next release is Thursday, September 3, 2026 at 8:30 AM ET. Captured live by Helious the moment it printed.
Claims are the highest-frequency read on the labor market: a real-time layoffs tape, every Thursday. Desks watch the 4-week average and continuing claims for trend; a sustained grind higher is the earliest hard-data recession signal available. In fragile tape, a bad claims print can move markets like a tier-1 release.
The trend, at a glance
How it moves Treasuries
Higher claims are bullish Treasuries: rising layoffs pull Fed cuts forward. A 20-30k miss above consensus reliably bids the front end, especially with continuing claims confirming. See it scored live on the Helious desk, or read how the standard-deviation surprise is computed.
Recent prints, as captured by the desk
| DATE | ACTUAL | FORECAST | PRIOR | SURPRISE (SD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 203K | 208K | 206K | -0.36 | BELOW FORECAST | |
| 206K | 210K | 209K | -0.29 | BELOW FORECAST | |
| 209K | 202K | 199K | +0.50 | ABOVE FORECAST | |
| 199K | 202K | 197K | -0.21 | BELOW FORECAST | |
| 197K | 200K | 187K | -0.21 | BELOW FORECAST | |
| 187K | 212K | 208K | -1.79 | BELOW FORECAST |
The 6 most recent prints from the desk's live capture (began July 2026), a sample. Every row links the print page published the moment the number landed; the full graded history is served by the API.
Official series history
| PERIOD | VALUE (CLAIMS) | PRIOR | CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 203K | 207K | -4K | |
| 207K | 212K | -5K | |
| 212K | 200K | +12K | |
| 200K | 198K | +2K | |
| 198K | 189K | +9K | |
| 189K | 209K | -20K | |
| 209K | 217K | -8K | |
| 217K | 217K | +0K |
The most recent official rows; the chart above draws the longer series. Desk-captured prints above include the consensus forecast and standard-deviation surprise the moment each number landed.
Related indicators
Weekly, every Thursday · 8:30 AM ET · download a sample (CSV, recent rows), free to cite with a link to this page. The full history comes through the Helious API and MCP at api.helious.io/mcp, with depth set by plan.