Long-term unemployment surged in the United States in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis (2007-2008) and Great Recession (2008-2009). The long-term unemployment rate did not fall below its pre-Great Recession levels until March 2020, which was caused by the surge in the numbers of regular unemployed persons in the U.S., not by a decrease in the absolute number of long-term unemployed. Long-term unemployment is defined as a worker who is seeking work having been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer. This is a serious problem in the United States as many long-term unemployed workers have low levels of educational attainment, have worked in declining industries in the past (such as some primary or manufacturing sectors), or come from minority groups. Active labor market policies are used to address these issues, with schemes such as training and job-sharing schemes aiming to improve the job prospects of the long-term unemployed. The question of whether automation and other structural changes to the economy are causing a secular increase in long-term unemployment is a key issue facing the U.S. in the 21st century.

Graph and download economic data for Initial Claims (ICSA) from 1967-01-07 to 2025-07-26 about initial claims, headline figure, and USA.

These data and/or computer programs are part of ICPSR's Publication-Related Archive and are distributed exactly as they arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the INVESTIGATOR(S) if further information is desired.

After the 2008 financial crisis, many Spaniards lost their jobs and the Mediterranean country was left with one of the highest unemployment rates in the European Union. In recent years, at least until the economic crisis provoked by the COVID-19, everything pointed at a slow but sure recovery of the job market in Spain, although the unemployment rate among the younger age groups remained still quite high. In fact, over 42 percent of those aged 16-19 did not have a job between 2020 and 2022. This figure goes down to approximately 25.5 percent in ages 20-24 and 15.58 for 25 to 29-year-olds. In stark contrast, youth unemployment figures in the European Union reached 25.8 percent in June 2024. The unemployed rate for under 25s was the highest in Spain, followed by Greece and Italy, all the three Mediterranean countries featuring rates of over 20 percent in the younger workforce groups. An ongoing and tough recoverySpanish unemployment rate skyrocketed in 2008, jumping from 8 percent in the first quarter that year up to 17.24 percent during the same quarter a year after. The Spanish unemployment crisis hit hardest in 2013, when a record high of 27 percent of the population did not have a job. In numbers, that share translates into 6.3 million professionals in 2013 left out of the workforce. The job market initiated a recovery thereafter, making moderate and laborious progress and reducing the numbers to approximately 3.1 million unemployed workers in the first quarter of 2023. The impact of the coronavirus on the Spanish economy caused the unemployment rate to surge again throughout 2020, but still remained far from the figures reached after the financial crisis. The unemployment situation in the European Union Spain was the European country with the highest unemployment rate in August 2023, with 11.5 percent of the labor force out of work. The unemployment rate in Greece, in second place, stood at a rate of 10.9 percent in that timeframe, which is still considerably higher than that of the rest of the European Union.

This statistic shows the unemployment rate in Greece from 1999 to 2024. In 2024, the unemployment rate in Greece was around 10.13 percent. Today, Greece reports the highest unemployment rate of all EU states. Greece's financial situation Greece is a developed country with a high-income economy, whose primary industry revolves around tourism and shipping. Agriculture also plays an important role for the country’s economy, more specifically for the EU. Greece had experienced large amounts of economic growth from the 1950s to the 1970s, however was economically devastated by the Great Recession in 2009 as well its own government debt crisis. Since the early 2000s, small increases in national debt were present within the Greek economy. These small increases turned into rather substantial surges between 2008 and 2011, which resulted in a large amount of accumulated public debt. However, financial assistance from several countries around the world as well as stimulus packages from the EU were issued to Greece, with the hopes of structural adjustments in the government and better decision making within the country in order to decrease national debt and increase productivity. The financial assistance helped stabilize Greece’s debt over the past several years, however many countries are arguing just how useful this support is, mostly because Greece has not made significant strides to improve its economy. As a result, consumers have become less optimistic about the possibility of a short term economic recovery in Greece. Additionally, investors have remained hesitant on investing into the country, generally due to an increasing debt-to-GDP ratio, which is ranked atop all countries in the European Union. The so-called debt-to-GDP ratio is an important indicator of a country’s ability to pay back its debts without incurring further debt.

According to the diversionary use of force literature, unemployment as an indicator of poor economy should increase the likelihood of diversionary conflict. I argue, however, leaders do not engage in such conflict unconditionally simply when unemployment is rising. Whether worsening unemployment leads to diversionary conflict depends on the availability of policies that can alleviate the condition. Only when such policy availability is low, will diversionary conflict become more likely as unemployment deteriorates. When ameliorating policies are available, unemployment should reduce the likelihood of diversionary conflict. Focusing on central bank independence (CBI) as a primary mechanism that shapes the availability of policies that tackle unemployment, I expect that high CBI encourages the use of diversionary conflict as unemployment surges. An augmented zero-inflated negative binomial analysis of an updated militarized dispute dataset for the period 1975-2013 lends strong and robust support to this theoretical postulate. The causal mechanism is also empirically validated.

The unemployment rate in fiscal year 2204 rose to 3.9 percent. The unemployment rate of the United States which has been steadily decreasing since the 2008 financial crisis, spiked to 8.1 percent in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The annual unemployment rate of the U.S. since 1990 can be found here. Falling unemployment The unemployment rate, or the part of the U.S. labor force that is without a job, fell again in 2022 after peaking at 8.1 percent in 2020 - a rate that has not been seen since the years following the 2008 financial crisis. The financial crash caused unemployment in the U.S. to soar from 4.6 percent in 2007 to 9.6 percent in 2010. Since 2010, the unemployment rate had been steadily falling, meaning that more and more people are finding work, whether that be through full-time employment or part-time employment. However, the affects of the COVID-19 pandemic created a spike in unemployment across the country. U.S. unemployment in comparison Compared to unemployment rates in the European Union, U.S. unemployment is relatively low. Greece was hit particularly hard by the 2008 financial crisis and faced a government debt crisis that sent the Greek economy into a tailspin. Due to this crisis, and the added impact of the pandemic, Greece still has the highest unemployment rate in the European Union.

Unemployment Rate in Germany remained unchanged at 6.30 percent in July. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Germany Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Unemployment Rate in South Africa increased to 32.90 percent in the first quarter of 2025 from 31.90 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024. This dataset provides - South Africa Unemployment Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Unemployment Rate in Poland increased to 5.20 percent in June from 5 percent in May of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Poland Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

These data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), also known as the household survey.

Civilian Labor Force includes all persons in the civilian noninstitutional population ages 16 and older classified as either employed or unemployed.

Employed persons are all persons who, during the reference week (the week including the 12th day of the month), (a) did any work as paid employees, worked in their own business or profession or on their own farm, or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise operated by a member of their family, or (b) were not working but who had jobs from which they were temporarily absent because of vacation, illness, bad weather, childcare problems, maternity or paternity leave, labor-management dispute, job training, or other family or personal reasons, whether or not they were paid for the time off or were seeking other jobs. Each employed person is counted only once, even if he or she holds more than one job.

Unemployed persons are all persons who had no employment during the reference week, were available for work, except for temporary illness, and had made specific efforts to find employment some time during the 4 week-period ending with the reference week. Persons who were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off need not have been looking for work to be classified as unemployed.

The unemployment rate is the unemployed percent of the civilian labor force [100 times (unemployed/civilian labor force)].

For more details, see the release's frequently asked questions.

Graph and download economic data for Of Total Unemployed, Percent Unemployed 27 Weeks & over (LNS13025703) from Jan 1948 to Jun 2025 about 27 weeks +, civilian, 16 years +, percent, household survey, unemployment, and USA.

These data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), also known as the household survey.

Civilian Labor Force includes all persons in the civilian noninstitutional population ages 16 and older classified as either employed or unemployed.

Employed persons are all persons who, during the reference week (the week including the 12th day of the month), (a) did any work as paid employees, worked in their own business or profession or on their own farm, or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise operated by a member of their family, or (b) were not working but who had jobs from which they were temporarily absent because of vacation, illness, bad weather, childcare problems, maternity or paternity leave, labor-management dispute, job training, or other family or personal reasons, whether or not they were paid for the time off or were seeking other jobs. Each employed person is counted only once, even if he or she holds more than one job.

Unemployed persons are all persons who had no employment during the reference week, were available for work, except for temporary illness, and had made specific efforts to find employment some time during the 4 week-period ending with the reference week. Persons who were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off need not have been looking for work to be classified as unemployed.

The unemployment rate is the unemployed percent of the civilian labor force [100 times (unemployed/civilian labor force)].

For more details, see the release's frequently asked questions.

These data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), also known as the household survey.

Civilian Labor Force includes all persons in the civilian noninstitutional population ages 16 and older classified as either employed or unemployed.

Employed persons are all persons who, during the reference week (the week including the 12th day of the month), (a) did any work as paid employees, worked in their own business or profession or on their own farm, or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise operated by a member of their family, or (b) were not working but who had jobs from which they were temporarily absent because of vacation, illness, bad weather, childcare problems, maternity or paternity leave, labor-management dispute, job training, or other family or personal reasons, whether or not they were paid for the time off or were seeking other jobs. Each employed person is counted only once, even if he or she holds more than one job.

Unemployed persons are all persons who had no employment during the reference week, were available for work, except for temporary illness, and had made specific efforts to find employment some time during the 4 week-period ending with the reference week. Persons who were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off need not have been looking for work to be classified as unemployed.

The unemployment rate is the unemployed percent of the civilian labor force [100 times (unemployed/civilian labor force)].

For more details, see the release's frequently asked questions.

Unemployment rate of Aseer plummeted by 17.18% from 6.39 % in 2024Q3 to 5.29 % in 2024Q4. Since the 11.57% surge in 2024Q2, unemployment rate dropped by 9.24% in 2024Q4.

In 2024, the unemployment rate in Italy was around seven percent, while it could reach 7.6 percent by 2029.Economy and employment in Italy Since reaching a decade low in 2007, unemployment in Italy has experienced considerable surges, most notably after 2011. This is mainly the cause of their late 2000s recession, originally triggered by the global crisis. Additionally, Italy experienced its highest spike in national debt in 2024, indicating that it is becoming more dependent on other nations to fund and fuel its economy. A significant reason for the country’s national debt is inefficient budgeting. Italy among the global leading importersItaly earned a place as one of the top 20 leading import countries worldwide, ahead of prominent exporters such as Canada and Mexico. This signifies that the country is capable of producing and selling goods, however, requires funding from other countries to complete the job, which subsequently leads to a higher national debt. Conversely, since 2013, the trade balance of goods has always recorded positive figures, registering a trade deficit only in 2022.

After the 2008 financial crisis, many Spaniards lost their jobs and the Mediterranean country was left with one of the highest unemployment rates in the European Union. In recent years, at least until the economic crisis provoked by the COVID-19, everything pointed at a slow but sure recovery of the job market in Spain, although the unemployment rate among the younger age groups remained still quite high. In fact, over ** percent of those aged 16-19 did not have a job between 2020 and 2022. This figure goes down to approximately **** percent in ages 20-24 and 15.58 for 25 to 29-year-olds. In stark contrast, youth unemployment figures in the European Union reached **** percent in April 2023. The unemployed rate for under 25s was the highest in Spain, followed by Greece and Italy, all the three Mediterranean countries featuring rates of over ** percent in the younger workforce groups. An ongoing and tough recoverySpanish unemployment rate skyrocketed in 2008, jumping from * percent in the first quarter that year up to ***** percent during the same quarter a year after. The Spanish unemployment crisis hit hardest in 2013, when a record high of ** percent of the population did not have a job. In numbers, that share translates into 6.3 million professionals in 2013 left out of the workforce. The job market initiated a recovery thereafter, making moderate and laborious progress and reducing the numbers to approximately *** million unemployed workers in the first quarter of 2023. The impact of the coronavirus on the Spanish economy caused the unemployment rate to surge again throughout 2020, but still remained far from the figures reached after the financial crisis. The unemployment situation in the European Union Spain was the European country with the highest unemployment rate in August 2023, with **** percent of the labor force out of work. The unemployment rate in Greece, in second place, stood at a rate of **** percent in that timeframe, which is still considerably higher than that of the rest of the European Union.

Initial Jobless Claims in the United States decreased to 217 thousand in the week ending July 19 of 2025 from 221 thousand in the previous week. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Initial Jobless Claims - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

These data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), also known as the household survey.

Civilian Labor Force includes all persons in the civilian noninstitutional population ages 16 and older classified as either employed or unemployed.

Employed persons are all persons who, during the reference week (the week including the 12th day of the month), (a) did any work as paid employees, worked in their own business or profession or on their own farm, or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise operated by a member of their family, or (b) were not working but who had jobs from which they were temporarily absent because of vacation, illness, bad weather, childcare problems, maternity or paternity leave, labor-management dispute, job training, or other family or personal reasons, whether or not they were paid for the time off or were seeking other jobs. Each employed person is counted only once, even if he or she holds more than one job.

Unemployed persons are all persons who had no employment during the reference week, were available for work, except for temporary illness, and had made specific efforts to find employment some time during the 4 week-period ending with the reference week. Persons who were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off need not have been looking for work to be classified as unemployed.

The unemployment rate is the unemployed percent of the civilian labor force [100 times (unemployed/civilian labor force)].

For more details, see the release's frequently asked questions.

Male unemployment rate of Makkah decreased by 3.51% from 2.51 % in 2024Q3 to 2.42 % in 2024Q4. Since the 10.29% surge in 2024Q2, male unemployment rate shot up by 20.17% in 2024Q4.