The number of people asking for unemployment help fell a lot last week.

The Labor Department said this on Thursday.

Jobless claims dropped to 196,000.

That is the lowest since mid-July.

It was 206,000 the week before.

The four-week average fell to 203,250.

This average smooths out weekly changes.

Economists expected 207,500 claims.

The data firm FactSet did a survey.

Jobless claims show layoffs.

Economists watch them.

They want to know where the job market goes.

For the past year, claims mostly stayed in a low range.

That range is 200,000 to 230,000 a week.

The American job market has stayed strong.

Gas prices are higher.

But the job market is still strong.

Gas prices have squeezed businesses and consumers.

The fighting with Iran began Feb. 28.

Layoffs are low.

Businesses remember the labor shortages after pandemic lockdowns.

They do not want to let workers go.

They are hiring too.

But hiring is modest by recent standards.

So far this year, employers added 80,000 jobs a month on average.

They added 162,000 in August.

That was a surprise.

That is better than 2025.

In 2025, job creation averaged 9,700 a month.

That was a bad year.

High interest rates discouraged hiring.

President Donald Trump's trade policies kept changing.

That also discouraged hiring that year.

Even so, the current pace is still low.

In 2023 and 2024, the average was 166,000 jobs a month.

The current pace is far below that.

It is also far below the 2021-2022 hiring boom.

That boom followed COVID-19 lockdowns.

Then, 491,000 jobs a month were created.