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Unemployment Claims Plunge Unexpectedly to Historic Low

Fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, underscoring strong job security as 2026 gets underway and reinforcing signs of a stable labor market under President Donald Trump’s second-term economic agenda.

The Department of Labor reported Thursday that 198,000 Americans filed first-time claims for state unemployment benefits.

That figure is not only well below expectations but also historically rare, having occurred in just six weeks since the pandemic in 2020.

Looking further back, data dating to 1967 show that initial jobless claims have been this low or lower only about 2.5 percent of the time.