More Americans filed for unemployment last week than in any week since 2021, the Department of Labor said in a Thursday (Sept. 11) press release.

There were 263,000 initial claims during the week ended Friday (Sept. 6), a figure that was 27,000 higher than the 236,000 reported the previous week and the highest since the 268,000 recorded on Oct. 23, 2021, according to the release.

The four-week moving average of 240,500 was 9,750 higher than the previous week’s average of 230,750, per the release.

Bloomberg reported Thursday that the weekly filings can be volatile around holidays, noting that last week included Labor Day, but added that the four-week moving average, which reduces that volatility, was the highest since June.

The number of initial claims was higher than the 235,000 expected by economists surveyed by Bloomberg, according to the report.

Reuters, too, reported Thursday that economists had forecast 235,000 initial claims, adding that the higher number reported by the DOL points to a softening in the labor market.

The DOL also reported Thursday that during the week ended Aug. 30, the insured unemployment rate was 1.3%, unchanged from the previous week.

The insured unemployment number for that week was 1,939,000, unchanged from the previous week.

The four-week moving average of 1,945,750 was 750 lower than the previous week’s average of 1,946,500.

In comments submitted to the DOL and included in the Thursday press release, the state with the greatest increase in the number of initial claims filed during the week ended Aug. 30, Tennessee, with 2,870, attributed the change to layoffs in the manufacturing industry.

Three other states had increases of greater than 1,000 during that week. Connecticut, which had 2,270 more claims, did not submit comments to the DOL; New York, which had 1,683 more claims, attributed the rise to layoffs in the transportation and warehousing, construction, and arts, entertainment and recreation industries; and Illinois, with 1,331 more claims, pointed to layoffs in manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade and construction, according to the DOL release.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Monday (Sept. 8) in its August 2025 Survey of Consumer Expectations that the mean probability that the unemployment rate will be higher one year from now rose to 39%, up from 37% in July.