We have some new updates regarding the latest unemployment figures. The number of initial jobless claims has decreased to 197k, coming in slightly lower than the estimated 200k and the previous total of 199k. Meanwhile, continuing claims climbed to 1.716M, which represents an increase compared to both the 1.700M estimate and the prior level of 1.699M.

Looking at the regional breakdown, the most significant increases occurred in CA (+4.6k), IL (+1.2k), and NY (+1.0k). Conversely, the largest decreases were recorded in HI (-0.3k), MI (-0.2k), and MD (-0.1k).