# StationFX Initial Unemployment Claims > StationFX Initial Unemployment Claims is a paid API for AI agents from stationfx.com, paid per call via x402, $0.005/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-02). Returns 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. ## Facts - Endpoint: GET https://stationfx.com/economic-data/labor/initial-claims?utm_source=zero.xyz - Price: $0.005/call - Payment: x402 - Status: unknown - Last checked: 2026-10-02 - Activations on Zero: 0 - Tags: x402 - Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/stationfx-initial-unemployment-claims-549a610c - Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_6Kr0vAv0aV9Db1aJxEAqU Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently. ## How to call it through Zero Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`): ```sh zero fetch --capability stationfx-initial-unemployment-claims-549a610c ``` Example prompt: 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. ## When to prefer this 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. ## Known failure modes - 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 ## How this service works 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. ## Output 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. ## Request schema (JSON Schema) ```json { "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. Always GET for StationFX query endpoints" }, "queryParams": { "type": "object", "properties": { "fmt": { "enum": [ "json", "toon" ], "type": "string", "description": "Response format. Use toon for compact agent-friendly output." }, "fields": { "type": "string", "description": "Comma-separated metric names" }, "date_to": { "type": "string", "description": "End date YYYY-MM-DD" }, "date_from": { "type": "string", "description": "Start date YYYY-MM-DD" } } } }, "additionalProperties": false }, "output": { "type": "object", "required": [ "type" ], "properties": { "type": { "type": "string", "description": "Response format. Always \"json\" (or \"toon\" if fmt=toon was requested)" }, "example": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "properties": { "date": { "type": "string", "description": "Observation date YYYY-MM-DD" }, "value": { "type": "number", "description": "Raw observed value in series units" }, "mom_pct": { "type": "number", "description": "Month-over-month % change" }, "yoy_pct": { "type": "number", "description": "Year-over-year % change" }, "zscore_5y": { "type": "number", "description": "Z-score relative to trailing 5 years" }, "mom_change": { "type": "number", "description": "Month-over-month absolute change" }, "yoy_change": { "type": "number", "description": "Year-over-year absolute change" }, "zscore_12m": { "type": "number", "description": "Z-score relative to trailing 12 … (truncated) ``` ## Response schema (JSON Schema) ```json { "type": "json", "schema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "properties": { "date": { "type": "string", "description": "Observation date YYYY-MM-DD" }, "value": { "type": "number", "description": "Raw observed value in series units" }, "mom_pct": { "type": "number", "description": "Month-over-month % change" }, "yoy_pct": { "type": "number", "description": "Year-over-year % change" }, "zscore_5y": { "type": "number", "description": "Z-score relative to trailing 5 years" }, "mom_change": { "type": "number", "description": "Month-over-month absolute change" }, "yoy_change": { "type": "number", "description": "Year-over-year absolute change" }, "zscore_12m": { "type": "number", "description": "Z-score relative to trailing 12 months" }, "above_trend": { "type": "integer", "description": "1 if value is above long-run trend, else 0" }, "pct_rank_5y": { "type": "number", "description": "Percentile rank over trailing 5 years (0-100)" }, "rolling_3m_avg": { "type": "number", "description": "3-month rolling average" }, "rolling_12m_avg": { "type": "number", "description": "12-month rolling average" }, "trend_direction": { "type": "integer", "description": "Trend: 1 rising, -1 falling, 0 flat" } } }, "description": "Observations ordered by date ascending" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "description": "Series metadata: source_key (FRED series ID), units, frequency (D/W/M/Q/A), date_from, date_to, fields" } }, "description": "Station f(x) response with metadata and pre-computed derived metrics" }, "example": { "data": [ { "date": "2024-01-01", "value": 5.33, "mom_pct": 0, "yoy_change": 0.5, "zscore_12m": 1.2, "trend_direction": 1 } ], "meta": { "frequency": "W", "source_key": "ICSA" } } } ``` ## More - Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/stationfx-initial-unemployment-claims-549a610c/health.json - [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt) - [Other services from stationfx.com](https://www.zero.xyz/host/stationfx.com/llms.txt)