U.S. filings for jobless aid tick up last week to 210,000 but remain at historically healthy levels

Associated Press AP Thu, Mar 26, 2026 • 08:47 AM

A “now hiring” sign sits on the side of the road Monday in Garland, Texas. (AP)

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for jobless aid inched up last week as employers continue to retain workers despite a labor market that has weakened considerably in the past year.

U.S. applications for jobless aid for the week ending March 21 rose by 5,000 to 210,000 from the previous week’s 205,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s right in line with the 210,000 new filings analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting.

Filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

The four-week moving average of jobless claims, which evens out some of the weekly swings, dipped by 250 to 210,500.

The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending March 14 fell by 32,000 to 1.82 million, the government said.