Initial jobless claims fall to 189,000 in week ending Oct. 31, Labor Department says

Seasonally adjusted initial claims for state unemployment benefits were 189,000 in the week ending Oct. 31, down 6,000 from the week before, the U.S. Department of Labor said in its weekly report released Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. The number is an advance estimate. The department revised the prior week’s figure up by 1,000, from the 194,000 it first reported last week to 195,000.¹

The 4-week moving average of initial claims was 194,750, a decrease of 2,250 from the prior week’s revised average of 197,000.¹

Reuters reported that economists it polled had expected 196,000 claims. It said the new figure equals the mid-July reading, which it described as the lowest since 1969.²

Continuing claims

Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment, or people continuing to claim state benefits, was 1,718,000 in the week ending Oct. 24, an advance figure 23,000 above the prior week’s revised level of 1,695,000, the department said. That prior week was revised down by 6,000, from 1,701,000. The 4-week moving average of insured unemployment was 1,709,500, up 1,000 from a revised 1,708,500.¹

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate held at 1.1% for the week ending Oct. 24.¹

Unadjusted figures

Unadjusted, states reported 176,698 initial claims in the week ending Oct. 31, down 2,951, or 1.6%, from the week before. Seasonal factors had expected an increase of 2,539, or 1.4%, the department said. In the comparable week of 2025 there were 216,026 initial claims.¹

Unadjusted insured unemployment was 1,494,812 in the week ending Oct. 24, up 10,189, or 0.7%, compared with an expected seasonal decrease of 10,169, or 0.7%. A year earlier the figure was 1,712,402.¹

Federal workers and veterans

Former federal civilian employees filed 552 initial claims in the week ending Oct. 24, up 110 from the week before. Newly discharged veterans filed 347 initial claims, down 40.¹

State changes

In the department’s unadjusted state figures for the week ending Oct. 24, four states had changes of more than 1,000 initial claims, with these explanations from the states:¹

• New York, up 2,609: layoffs in construction, accommodation and food services, and health care and social assistance.
• Texas, up 1,564: no comment given.
• California, up 1,043: no comment given.
• Michigan, down 1,813: fewer layoffs in manufacturing.

Private count of layoff announcements

Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a private outplacement and executive coaching firm, separately reported Thursday that U.S.-based employers announced 43,994 job cuts in October, up 2% from 43,281 in September and down 71% from 153,074 in October 2025. Through October, its count stood at 617,189, down 44% from 1,099,500 in the same period of 2025.³

The firm counted 444,692 announced hiring plans in October, up 57% from 283,138 a year earlier. Its count of seasonal hiring plans through October was 470,400, up 26% from 372,520 through October 2025. Employers cited market and economic conditions for the most October cuts, 16,407.³

October jobs report

Reuters reported that the October employment report is due Friday, Nov. 6, and that the claims data for the week ending Oct. 31 falls outside that report’s survey period.²

What the records do not show

• The figures for the weeks ending Oct. 31 and Oct. 24 are advance numbers, which the department revises in later reports.¹
• State explanations name industries only; the release does not identify employers or count layoffs.¹
• The Challenger figures are a private firm’s tally of employer announcements, not government data, and they do not show how many of the announced cuts or hires took place.³
• The claims forecast comes from a Reuters poll as reported by Reuters; SignalData did not see the poll itself.²
• SignalData did not open the Bureau of Labor Statistics schedule; the timing of the jobs report here is as Reuters reported it.²