In 2025, it was estimated that over 163 million Americans were in some form of employment, while 4.16 percent of the total workforce was unemployed. This was the lowest unemployment rate since the 1950s, although these figures are expected to rise in 2023 and beyond. 1980s-2010s Since the 1980s, the total United States labor force has generally risen as the population has grown, however, the annual average unemployment rate has fluctuated significantly, usually increasing in times of crisis, before falling more slowly during periods of recovery and economic stability. For example, unemployment peaked at 9.7 percent during the early 1980s recession, which was largely caused by the ripple effects of the Iranian Revolution on global oil prices and inflation. Other notable spikes came during the early 1990s; again, largely due to inflation caused by another oil shock, and during the early 2000s recession. The Great Recession then saw the U.S. unemployment rate soar to 9.6 percent, following the collapse of the U.S. housing market and its impact on the banking sector, and it was not until 2016 that unemployment returned to pre-recession levels. 2020s 2019 had marked a decade-long low in unemployment, before the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic saw the sharpest year-on-year increase in unemployment since the Great Depression, and the total number of workers fell by almost 10 million people. Despite the continuation of the pandemic in the years that followed, alongside the associated supply-chain issues and onset of the inflation crisis, unemployment reached just 3.67 percent in 2022 - current projections are for this figure to rise in 2023 and the years that follow, although these forecasts are subject to change if recent years are anything to go by.

Employment Rate in the United States increased to 59.70 percent in September from 59.60 percent in August of 2025. This dataset provides - United States Employment Rate- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Graph and download economic data for Infra-Annual Labor Statistics: Employment Rate Total: From 25 to 54 Years for United States (LREM25TTUSM156N) from Jan 1955 to Aug 2025 about 25 to 54 years, employment-population ratio, population, employment, rate, and USA.

As of October 2024, there were 133.89 million full-time employees in the United States. This is a slight decrease from the previous month, when there were 134.15 million full-time employees. The impact COVID-19 on employment In December 2019, the COVID-19 virus began its spread across the globe. Since being classified as a pandemic, the virus caused a global health crisis that has taken the lives of millions of people worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic changed many facets of society, most significantly, the economy. In the first years, many businesses across all industries were forced to shut down, with large numbers of employees being laid off. The economy continued its recovery in 2022 with the nationwide unemployment rate returning to a more normal 3.4 percent as of April 2023. Unemployment benefits Because so many people in the United States lost their jobs, record numbers of individuals applied for unemployment insurance for the first time. As an early response to this nation-wide upheaval, the government issued relief checks and extended the benefits paid by unemployment insurance. In May 2020, the amount of unemployment insurance benefits paid rose to 23.73 billion U.S. dollars. As of December 2022, this value had declined to 2.24 billion U.S. dollars.

This dataset provides values for EMPLOYMENT RATE reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Graph and download economic data for Employed, Usually Work Full Time (LNS12500000) from Jan 1968 to Sep 2025 about full-time, 16 years +, household survey, employment, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate Full-Time Workers (LNS14100000) from Jan 1968 to Sep 2025 about full-time, workers, 16 years +, household survey, unemployment, rate, and USA.

In 2024, the employment rate of the workforce of 55 years and older decreased to 37.3 percent. Employment rate among young adults (age 16-24) was at 50.9 percent in 2024. For monthly updates on employment in the United States visit the annual national employment rate here.

One aim of the Soviet Union, and communist countries in general, was to achieve full employment. Official policy was designed to prevent unemployment, and the state stopped paying most unemployment benefits in the 1930s. Every citizen had the right (or requirement) to work, and jobs were allocated by the state, not competed for as they were in the west. People could apply for certain positions, based on their education, experience, or interests, but roles could often be distributed to meet employment demands, or preferential roles were distributed via nepotism. The socialist economic system removed job market competition, which provided increased job security but removed many of the incentives that boosted productivity (especially in later decades). In the 1970s and 1980s, average work weeks were under 35 hours long and people retired in their mid to late fifties. Compared to the U.S. in 1985, on average, work weeks were around four hours shorter in the USSR, and Soviet men retired five years earlier, while women retired nine years earlier than their American counterparts.

Wages In earlier years, wages had been tied to individual performance or output, however the de-Stalinization process of the 1960s introduced a more standardized system of payment; from this point onwards, base wages were more fixed, and bonuses had a larger impact on disposable income. Personal finances in the Soviet Union were very different from those in the west; wages were split into base salaries and bonuses, along with a social wage that was "paid" in the form of investments in housing, healthcare, education, and infrastructure, as well as subsidized vouchers for holidays and food. Many of these amenities were also provided by the state, which removed the individual costs that were required across the west and in post-Soviet states today. Overall, income and money in general had a much lower influence on daily life in the USSR than it did in the west, lessening factors such as financial stress and indebtedness, but restricting consumeristic freedom.

Gender differences A major difference between the East and West Blocs was the participation rate of women in the workforce. Throughout most of the USSR's history, women made up the majority of the workforce, with a 51.4 percent share in 1970, and 50.4 percent in 1989; in the U.S. figures for these years were 38 and 45 percent respectively. Although this was due to the fact that women also made up a larger share of the total population (around 53 percent in this period), Soviet women were possibly the most economically active in the world in these decades. When comparing activity rates of women aged between 40 and 44 across Europe in 1985, the USSR had a participation rate of 97 percent; this was the highest in the East Bloc (where rates ranged from 85 to 93 percent in other countries), and is much higher than rates in Northern Europe (71 percent), Western Europe (56 percent) and Southern Europe (37 percent).

Unemployment Rate in the United States increased to 4.40 percent in September from 4.30 percent in August of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The employment and unemployment indicator shows several data points. The first figure is the number of people in the labor force, which includes the number of people who are either working or looking for work. The second two figures, the number of people who are employed and the number of people who are unemployed, are the two subcategories of the labor force. The unemployment rate is a calculation of the number of people who are in the labor force and unemployed as a percentage of the total number of people in the labor force.

The unemployment rate does not include people who are not employed and not in the labor force. This includes adults who are neither working nor looking for work. For example, full-time students may choose not to seek any employment during their college career, and are thus not considered in the unemployment rate. Stay-at-home parents and other caregivers are also considered outside of the labor force, and therefore outside the scope of the unemployment rate.

The unemployment rate is a key economic indicator, and is illustrative of economic conditions in the county at the individual scale.

There are additional considerations to the unemployment rate. Because it does not count those who are outside the labor force, it can exclude individuals who were looking for a job previously, but have since given up. The impact of this on the overall unemployment rate is difficult to quantify, but it is important to note because it shows that no statistic is perfect.

The unemployment rates for Champaign County, the City of Champaign, and the City of Urbana are extremely similar between 2000 and 2023.

All three areas saw a dramatic increase in the unemployment rate between 2006 and 2009. The unemployment rates for all three areas decreased overall between 2010 and 2019. However, the unemployment rate in all three areas rose sharply in 2020 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The unemployment rate in all three areas dropped again in 2021 as pandemic restrictions were removed, and were almost back to 2019 rates in 2022. However, the unemployment rate in all three areas rose slightly from 2022 to 2023.

This data is sourced from the Illinois Department of Employment Security’s Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS), and from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Sources: Illinois Department of Employment Security, Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The statistic shows the distribution of the workforce across economic sectors in the United States from 2013 to 2023. In 2023, 1.57 percent of the workforce in the US was employed in agriculture, 19.34 percent in industry and 79.09 percent in services. See U.S. GDP per capita for more information. American workforce A significant majority of the American labor force is employed in the services sector, while the other sectors, industry and agriculture, account for less than 20 percent of the US economy. However, the United States is among the top exporters of agricultural goods – the total value of US agricultural exports has more than doubled since 2000. A severe plunge in the employment rate in the US since 1990 shows that the American economy is still in turmoil after the economic crisis of 2008. Unemployment is still significantly higher than it was before the crisis, and most of those unemployed and looking for a job are younger than 25; youth unemployment is a severe problem for the United States, many college or university graduates struggle to find a job right away. Still, the number of employees in the US since 1990 has been increasing slowly, with a slight setback during and after the recession. Both the number of full-time and of part-time workers have increased during the same period. When looking at the distribution of jobs among men and women, both project the general downward trend. A comparison of the employment rate of men in the US since 1990 and the employment rate of women since 1990 shows that more men tend to be employed than women.

The adult employment-to-population in 2022 was higher in Iceland than any other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) country, at 83.3 percent. The Netherlands ranked second with nearly 82 percent. On the other hand, it was lowest in Türkiye. The average for the entire bloc was 67.8. The employment-to-population ratio is a valuable addition to the unemployment rate because it includes the entire adult population, whereas the unemployment rate only considers those who are working or actively seeking a job, that is, only the workforce.

View monthly updates and historical trends for US Full-time Employment. from United States. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Track economic data with Y…

Number of persons in the labour force (employment and unemployment), unemployment rate, participation rate and employment rate by age group and gender. Data are presented for 12 months earlier, previous month and current month, as well as year-over-year and month-to-month level change and percentage change. Data are also available for the standard error of the estimate, the standard error of the month-to-month change and the standard error of the year-over-year change.

In 2024, the employment rate for men in the United States stood at 65.2 percent, reflecting a slight decrease from the previous year. Despite continued growth, the employment rate of men has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. The monthly figure of full-time employees in the U.S. can be accessed here.

The section 'LFS series - detailed annual survey results' reports annual results from the EU-LFS. While LFS is a quarterly survey, it is also possible to produce annual results. There are several ways of doing it, see section '18.5 Data compilation' below for details.

This data collection covers all main labour market characteristics, i.e. the total population, labour force and labour force participation rates, employment, employment rates, self-employed, employees, temporary employment, full-time and part-time employment, population in employment having a second job, population in employment working during unsocial hours, working time, total unemployment, inactivity and quality of employment.

General information on the EU-LFS can be found in the ESMS page for https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/en/employ_esms.htm" target="_parent">Employment and unemployment (LFS). Detailed information on the main features, the legal basis, the methodology and the data as well as on the historical development of the EU-LFS is available on the EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) webpage.

The section 'LFS series - detailed annual survey results' reports annual results from the EU-LFS. While LFS is a quarterly survey, it is also possible to produce annual results. There are several ways of doing it, see section '18.5 Data compilation' below for details.

This data collection covers all main labour market characteristics, i.e. the total population, labour force and labour force participation rates, employment, employment rates, self-employed, employees, temporary employment, full-time and part-time employment, population in employment having a second job, population in employment working during unsocial hours, working time, total unemployment, inactivity and quality of employment.

General information on the EU-LFS can be found in the ESMS page for https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/en/employ_esms.htm" target="_parent">Employment and unemployment (LFS). Detailed information on the main features, the legal basis, the methodology and the data as well as on the historical development of the EU-LFS is available on the EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) webpage.

Graph and download economic data for Infra-Annual Labor Statistics: Employment Rate Total: From 15 to 64 Years for United States (LREM64TTUSM156N) from Jan 1955 to Aug 2025 about employment-population ratio, 15 to 64 years, population, employment, rate, and USA.

Ecuador Full Time Employment Rate: Male data was reported at 44.798 % in Jun 2019. This records an increase from the previous number of 43.775 % for Mar 2019. Ecuador Full Time Employment Rate: Male data is updated quarterly, averaging 47.899 % from Dec 2013 (Median) to Jun 2019, with 23 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 56.193 % in Dec 2014 and a record low of 43.775 % in Mar 2019. Ecuador Full Time Employment Rate: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Institute of Statistics and Census. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Ecuador – Table EC.G019: ENEMDU: Employment Rate.