Recurring jobless claims also fall below 1.9 million, suggesting out-of-work people are finding jobs.
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, indicating the persistence of low layoff levels in the U.S. economy.
For the week ending Jan. 10, initial jobless claims declined by 9,000 to 198,000, according to Department of Labor data released on Jan. 15. The previous week’s reading was revised slightly lower to 207,000.
The market consensus was 215,000. Any reading below 200,000 is considered historically low.
The four-week average, which strips out week-to-week volatility, also dropped to 205,000 from 211,500.
New employment data continue to show that companies in the U.S. labor market are at a standstill, with employers refraining from mass layoffs as they navigate economic uncertainty.
But while “low fire, low hire” has been the dominant theme for the last several months, other figures suggest jobless individuals are gradually finding employment.
Continuing jobless claims—a measure of the number of out-of-work people currently receiving unemployment benefits—declined to a lower-than-expected 1.884 million from a downwardly adjusted 1.903 million.
Economists use this statistic to assess the challenges unemployed individuals may face in finding work under current labor market conditions.
Employment was mostly unchanged in the U.S. economy, according to the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, a periodic report that summarizes the economic conditions across the central bank’s 12 districts.
Many companies reported either relying on temporary workers “to stay flexible in uncertain times” or hiring workers to “backfill vacancies rather than create new positions.”
As for artificial intelligence (AI) implementation, the new technology has still had only a limited impact on the labor market, the Beige Book found.
“Multiple contacts reported exploring AI implementation primarily for productivity enhancement and potential future workforce management,” the report reads. “AI’s current impact on employment was limited, with more significant effects anticipated in the coming years rather than immediately.”
Stay Cool
In December, the U.S. economy created a smaller-than-expected 50,000 new jobs, and the unemployment rate dipped to 4.4 percent. In total, employers created 584,000 jobs in 2025, representing a monthly average gain of 49,000.
Private-sector hiring could be gaining some momentum, according to payroll processor ADP.
U.S. private employers added an average of 11,750 jobs per week in the four weeks ending Dec. 20, up from an average increase of 11,000 in the previous period. This represented the fifth consecutive span of job growth and the best performance since late November.
By Andrew Moran
