{"uid":"cap_6Kr0vAv0aV9Db1aJxEAqU","slug":"stationfx-initial-unemployment-claims-549a610c","name":"StationFX Initial Unemployment Claims","description":"Weekly count of new unemployment insurance claims — the most timely labor market indicator available. Released every Thursday, one week lag. First sign of labor market deterioration. Use for real-time recession monitoring and NFP forecasting. Weekly frequency with full derived metrics.","url":"https://stationfx.com/economic-data/labor/initial-claims?utm_source=zero.xyz","method":"GET","headers":{},"bodySchema":{"type":"object","$schema":"https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema","required":["input"],"properties":{"input":{"type":"object","required":["type","method"],"properties":{"type":{"type":"string","const":"http","description":"Always \"http\" for HTTP endpoints"},"method":{"enum":["GET","HEAD","DELETE"],"type":"string","description":"HTTP method. 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weekly U.S. initial unemployment insurance claims data with derived metrics including z-scores, percentile ranks, rolling averages, and trend signals for labor market and recession monitoring.","exampleAgentPrompt":"Pull the latest initial unemployment claims data from StationFX including z-scores and rolling averages — I want to see how current filings compare to the past 5 years to gauge whether the labor market is starting to crack.","exampleUseCases":[{"title":"Real-time recession early warning","prompt":"Get me the most recent weekly initial jobless claims from StationFX, including the 5-year z-score and the above-trend flag — I want to know if claims are spiking enough to signal a recession is starting."},{"title":"NFP forecast model input","prompt":"Pull the last 12 weeks of initial claims data from StationFX with month-over-month changes and the 3-month rolling average — I'm building a nonfarm payrolls forecast and need the most current labor series."},{"title":"Historical labor market stress analysis","prompt":"Fetch initial unemployment claims from StationFX from 2020-01-01 to 2020-06-30 in JSON format, including year-over-year percent change and percentile rank over 5 years, so I can study how fast claims spiked during the COVID shock."}],"resultDescription":"Returns a time-series array of weekly initial unemployment claims observations, each with the raw value plus derived metrics: month-over-month and year-over-year absolute and percentage changes, 12-month and 5-year z-scores, 5-year percentile rank, 3-month and 12-month rolling averages, and a binary above-trend indicator. Data is released with approximately one week lag on a Thursday schedule.","failureModes":["Invalid date format returns a 400 error — dates must be YYYY-MM-DD","Requesting fields that do not exist in the schema returns an error or empty field set","Requesting data before the series start date returns an empty array","Missing x402 payment or insufficient USDC balance results in a 402 Payment Required response","Requesting future dates returns no data since the series has a one-week publication lag"],"whenToPreferThis":"Choose this endpoint when you need the most timely available U.S. labor market data — initial claims are released weekly (vs monthly for payrolls) making them the first signal of labor market deterioration. Prefer this over continuing claims for leading-edge recession detection, and over payroll data when you need higher-frequency updates. The included derived metrics (z-scores, percentile ranks, rolling averages) remove the need for separate calculation steps, making it ideal for agents doing macro monitoring or NFP model inputs.","instructions":null,"reviewSummary":null,"reviewSummaryHighlights":null,"reviewSummaryConcerns":null,"reviewSummaryGeneratedAt":null,"activationCount":0,"lastUsedAt":null,"lastSuccessfullyRanAt":null,"lastHealthCheckAt":"2026-10-02T00:44:38.220Z","isFirstParty":false,"canonicalSlug":"stationfx-initial-unemployment-claims-549a610c"}