Initial jobless claims
The weekly count of new applications for unemployment insurance, a timely indicator of layoffs.
Initial jobless claims count the number of people filing for unemployment insurance for the first time in a week. The Labor Department publishes the figure every Thursday for the prior week, along with the continuing claims count of people already receiving benefits. Because it is weekly, it is one of the earliest signs of change in the labor market.
On our site, claims are shown as a weekly series with a four-week average. Use the average, since single weeks can jump for seasonal and administrative reasons.
Traders care because a sustained rise in claims signals layoffs picking up, which feeds into expectations for rates and growth.
Worked example (illustrative numbers, not real data): claims jump from 210,000 in one week to 245,000 the next. A single jump of that size may be a holiday effect, but if the four-week average climbs from 215,000 to 240,000, the trend is worth noting.