The First Half of 2026 Saw Lowest Level of Jobless Claims Since 1969

Weekly initial unemployment claims for last week came in at 215,000, which is a very low level. Even more impressive, the average over the first six months of the year is around 213,000.

To put that in perspective, the last time the January through July period had claims this low was 1968 and 1969. The workforce was much smaller then, less than half the size it is now. We were experiencing an exceptionally tight labor market, and the Vietnam War draft was taking hundreds of thousands of young men off civilian payrolls.

https://link.breitbart.com/view/5d13e215fc942d626ce65d9erp2xr.bb8/1699f88a#:~:text=Even%20in%20the,and%20certainly%20uncelebrated.