Unemployment Rate in the United States decreased to 4.10 percent in June from 4.20 percent in May 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.

Historical chart and dataset showing U.S. unemployment rate by year from 1991 to 2024.

In 1990, the unemployment rate of the United States stood at 5.6 percent. Since then there have been many significant fluctuations to this number - the 2008 financial crisis left millions of people without work, as did the COVID-19 pandemic. By the end of 2022 and throughout 2023, the unemployment rate came to 3.6 percent, the lowest rate seen for decades. However, 2024 saw an increase up to four percent. For monthly updates on unemployment in the United States visit either the monthly national unemployment rate here, or the monthly state unemployment rate here. Both are seasonally adjusted. UnemploymentUnemployment is defined as a situation when an employed person is laid off, fired or quits his work and is still actively looking for a job. Unemployment can be found even in the healthiest economies, and many economists consider an unemployment rate at or below five percent to mean there is 'full employment' within an economy. If former employed persons go back to school or leave the job to take care of children they are no longer part of the active labor force and therefore not counted among the unemployed. Unemployment can also be the effect of events that are not part of the normal dynamics of an economy. Layoffs can be the result of technological progress, for example when robots replace workers in automobile production. Sometimes unemployment is caused by job outsourcing, due to the fact that employers often search for cheap labor around the globe and not only domestically. In 2022, the tech sector in the U.S. experienced significant lay-offs amid growing economic uncertainty. In the fourth quarter of 2022, more than 70,000 workers were laid off, despite low unemployment nationwide. The unemployment rate in the United States varies from state to state. In 2021, California had the highest number of unemployed persons with 1.38 million out of work.

Historical chart and data for the united states national unemployment rate back to 1948. Compares the level and annual rate of change.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - 20 Yrs. & over (LNS14000024) from Jan 1948 to Jun 2025 about 20 years +, household survey, unemployment, rate, and USA.

The seasonally-adjusted national unemployment rate is measured on a monthly basis in the United States. In February 2025, the national unemployment rate was at 4.1 percent. Seasonal adjustment is a statistical method of removing the seasonal component of a time series that is used when analyzing non-seasonal trends. U.S. monthly unemployment rate According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics - the principle fact-finding agency for the U.S. Federal Government in labor economics and statistics - unemployment decreased dramatically between 2010 and 2019. This trend of decreasing unemployment followed after a high in 2010 resulting from the 2008 financial crisis. However, after a smaller financial crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment reached 8.1 percent in 2020. As the economy recovered, the unemployment rate fell to 5.3 in 2021, and fell even further in 2022. Additional statistics from the BLS paint an interesting picture of unemployment in the United States. In November 2023, the states with the highest (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate were the Nevada and the District of Columbia. Unemployment was the lowest in Maryland, at 1.8 percent. Workers in the agricultural and related industries suffered the highest unemployment rate of any industry at seven percent in December 2023.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Level - 20 Yrs. & over (LNS13000024) from Jan 1948 to May 2025 about 20 years +, household survey, unemployment, and USA.

From the late 19th century until the 1980s, the United States' unemployment rate was generally somewhere between three and ten percent of the total workforce. The periods when it peaked were in times of recession or depression - the Panic of 1893, which lasted until 1897, saw unemployment peak at over 18 percent, whereas the post-WWI recession saw unemployment spike to almost 12 percent in 1921.

However, the longest and most-severe period of mass unemployment in U.S. history came during the Great Depression - unemployment rose from just 3.2 percent in 1929 to one quarter of the total workforce in 1933, and it was not until the Second World War until it fell below five percent once more. Since this time, unemployment has never exceeded 10 percent, although it did come close during the recessions of the 1970s and 1980s.

More recent unemployment statistics for the U.S. can be found here.

U6 Unemployment Rate in the United States decreased to 7.70 percent in June from 7.80 percent in May of 2025. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United States U-6 Unemployment Rate.

In 2023, it was estimated that over 161 million Americans were in some form of employment, while 3.64 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.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - 30-34 Yrs. (LNU04024933) from Jan 1981 to Jun 2025 about 30 to 34 years, unemployment, rate, and USA.

Employment Rate in the United States remained unchanged at 59.70 percent in June. This dataset provides - United States Employment Rate- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

United States - Unemployment Rate was 4.20% in May of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Unemployment Rate reached a record high of 14.80 in April of 2020 and a record low of 2.50 in May of 1953. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Unemployment Rate - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.

Youth Unemployment Rate in the United States increased to 10 percent in June from 9.70 percent in May of 2025. This dataset provides - United States Youth Unemployment Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - White (LNS14000003) from Jan 1954 to Jun 2025 about white, 16 years +, household survey, unemployment, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - 50-54 Yrs. (LNU04024937) from Jan 1981 to Jun 2025 about 50 to 54 years, unemployment, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - Women (LNS14000002) from Jan 1948 to Jun 2025 about females, 16 years +, household survey, unemployment, rate, and USA.

In February 2025, the unemployment rate for those aged 16 and over in the United States came to 4.5 percent. Service occupations had an unemployment rate of 6.3 percent in that month. The underemployment rate of the country can be accessed here and the monthly unemployment rate here. Unemployment by occupation in the U.S. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics publish data on the unemployment situation within certain occupations in the United States on a monthly basis. According to latest data released from May 2023, transportation and material moving occupations experienced the highest level of unemployment that month, with a rate of around 5.6 percent. Second ranked was farming, fishing, and forestry occupations with a rate of 4.9 percent. Total (not seasonally adjusted) unemployment was reported at 3.6 percent in March 2023. Other data on the U.S. unemployment rate by industry and class of worker shows comparable results. It should be noted that the data were not seasonally adjusted to account for normal seasonal fluctuations in unemployment. The monthly unemployment by occupation data can be compared to the seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment rate. In March 2023, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, which was an increase from the previous month. The annual unemployment rate in 2022 was 3.6 percent, down from a high of 9.6 in 2010. Unemployment in the United States trended downward after the coronavirus pandemic, and is now experiencing consistently low rates - a sign of economic stability. Individuals who opt to leave the workforce and stop looking for employment are not included among the unemployed. The civilian labor force participation rate in the U.S. rose to 62.2 percent in 2022, down from 67.1 percent in 2000, before the financial crisis.

United States Unemployment Rate: Female: Age 25 to 54 data was reported at 3.600 % in Jun 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 2.900 % for May 2018. United States Unemployment Rate: Female: Age 25 to 54 data is updated monthly, averaging 4.800 % from Jan 1948 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 846 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 9.000 % in Jan 1983 and a record low of 2.100 % in Jun 1953. United States Unemployment Rate: Female: Age 25 to 54 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.G018: Current Population Survey: Unemployment Rate.

Long Term Unemployment Rate in the United States increased to 0.97 percent in June from 0.85 percent in May of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Long Term Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.