U.S. jobless claims fall to 213,000, remaining low

New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell in the week ended Feb. 8, 2025, keeping claims low and pointing to limited layoffs. The Labor Department reported on Feb. 13 that seasonally adjusted initial claims totaled 213,000, down 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level.

The result was slightly below expectations. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast 215,000 applications, according to MarketWatch, making the actual reading 2,000 lower than anticipated.

The department revised the preceding week’s claims count upward to 220,000 from 219,000. Its four-week moving average, which helps smooth weekly fluctuations, declined by 1,000 to 216,000, suggesting that the latest decrease was accompanied by a modest improvement in the broader trend.

Continuing claims also moved lower. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment fell by 36,000 to 1.85 million in the week ended Feb. 1, a series that runs one week behind initial applications. The insured unemployment rate held at 1.2%.

The two measures provide different perspectives on unemployment insurance activity. Initial applications offer a timely indication of new claims following job losses, while continuing claims track ongoing benefit claims. Neither measure alone establishes how quickly employers are hiring or captures everyone who is unemployed.

The broader employment backdrop remained positive, though job gains were uneven across industries. In its Jan. 2025 employment report, released Feb. 7, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said employers added 143,000 nonfarm jobs and the unemployment rate edged down to 4.0%. Those figures provided a wider context for the subsequent weekly claims reading.

Health care, retail trade and social assistance added jobs in January, according to the bureau. Employment declined in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction, underscoring that national payroll growth did not mean every industry was expanding. The sector differences also caution against treating a single national indicator as a complete assessment of conditions.

For job seekers, continued payroll growth coexisted with signs of difficulty finding suitable work. The bureau reported that 1.4 million people had been unemployed for at least 27 weeks, accounting for 21.1% of unemployed people. Another 4.5 million were working part time for economic reasons, including reduced hours or an inability to find full-time positions.

Taken together, the reports suggested that limited new layoffs were only one part of the labor-market picture. Low initial claims did not eliminate the challenges facing people already out of work, and the monthly employment figures showed why hiring, unemployment duration and access to full-time work also matter.

Subsequent claims releases would help establish whether the decline persisted beyond a single week. The Labor Department identified the latest figures as advance estimates, leaving them subject to revision. Further weekly readings, alongside monthly employment reports, would provide a firmer basis for judging the direction of the labor market.