39 | Friday, September 19, 2025US jobless aid applications retreat to 231,000 after surging to nearly 4-year high a week earlier The Associated Press Print | Front Page | Email this story To:From:Message:From (email):Message:The number of Americans applying for jobless aid last week retreated significantly after surging to a nearly four-year high a week earlier. U.S. filings for unemployment benefits for the week ending Sept. 13 fell by 33,000 to 231,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The previous week, applications surged to 264,000, their highest level since the week of Oct. 23, 2021. Thursday's unemployment benefits report showed that the four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, fell by 750 to 240,000. The total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits for the previous week of Sept. 6 fell by 7,000 to 1.92 million.