Federal Reserve Economic Data

Table Data - Unemployment Level

Title Unemployment Level
Series ID UNEMPLOY
Source U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Release Employment Situation
Seasonal Adjustment Seasonally Adjusted
Frequency Monthly
Units Thousands of Persons
Date Range 1948-01-01 to 2024-11-01
Last Updated 2024-12-06 7:47 AM CST
Notes The series comes from the 'Current Population Survey (Household Survey)'
The source code is: LNS13000000

The Unemployment Level is the aggregate measure of people currently unemployed in the US. Someone in the labor force is defined as unemployed if they were not employed during the survey reference week, were available for work, and made at least one active effort to find a job during the 4-week survey period.

The Unemployment Level is collected in the CPS and published by the BLS. It is provided on a monthly basis, so this data is used in part by macroeconomists as an initial economic indicator of current trends. The Unemployment Level helps government agencies, financial markets, and researchers gauge the overall health of the economy.

Note that individuals that are not employed but not actively looking for a job are not counted as unemployed. For instance, declines in the Unemployment Level may either reflect movements of unemployed individuals into the labor force because they found a job, or movements of unemployed individuals out of the labor force because they stopped looking to find a job.


For more information, see:
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CES Overview
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS Handbook of Methods: Chapter 2. Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Establishment Survey
DATE VALUE
1948-01-01 2034
1948-02-01 2328
1948-03-01 2399
1948-04-01 2386
1948-05-01 2118
1948-06-01 2214
1948-07-01 2213
1948-08-01 2350
1948-09-01 2302
1948-10-01 2259
1948-11-01 2285
1948-12-01 2429
1949-01-01 2596
1949-02-01 2849
1949-03-01 3030
1949-04-01 3260
1949-05-01 3707
1949-06-01 3776
1949-07-01 4111
1949-08-01 4193
1949-09-01 4049
1949-10-01 4916
1949-11-01 3996
1949-12-01 4063
1950-01-01 4026
1950-02-01 3936
1950-03-01 3876
1950-04-01 3575
1950-05-01 3434
1950-06-01 3367
1950-07-01 3120
1950-08-01 2799
1950-09-01 2774
1950-10-01 2625
1950-11-01 2589
1950-12-01 2639
1951-01-01 2305
1951-02-01 2117
1951-03-01 2125
1951-04-01 1919
1951-05-01 1856
1951-06-01 1995
1951-07-01 1950
1951-08-01 1933
1951-09-01 2067
1951-10-01 2194
1951-11-01 2178
1951-12-01 1960
1952-01-01 1972
1952-02-01 1957
1952-03-01 1813
1952-04-01 1811
1952-05-01 1863
1952-06-01 1884
1952-07-01 1991
1952-08-01 2087
1952-09-01 1936
1952-10-01 1839
1952-11-01 1743
1952-12-01 1667
1953-01-01 1839
1953-02-01 1636
1953-03-01 1647
1953-04-01 1723
1953-05-01 1596
1953-06-01 1607
1953-07-01 1660
1953-08-01 1665
1953-09-01 1821
1953-10-01 1974
1953-11-01 2211
1953-12-01 2818
1954-01-01 3077
1954-02-01 3331
1954-03-01 3607
1954-04-01 3749
1954-05-01 3767
1954-06-01 3551
1954-07-01 3659
1954-08-01 3854
1954-09-01 3927
1954-10-01 3666
1954-11-01 3402
1954-12-01 3196
1955-01-01 3157
1955-02-01 2969
1955-03-01 2918
1955-04-01 3049
1955-05-01 2747
1955-06-01 2701
1955-07-01 2632
1955-08-01 2784
1955-09-01 2678
1955-10-01 2830
1955-11-01 2780
1955-12-01 2761
1956-01-01 2666
1956-02-01 2606
1956-03-01 2764
1956-04-01 2650
1956-05-01 2861
1956-06-01 2882
1956-07-01 2952
1956-08-01 2701
1956-09-01 2635
1956-10-01 2571
1956-11-01 2861
1956-12-01 2790
1957-01-01 2796
1957-02-01 2622
1957-03-01 2509
1957-04-01 2600
1957-05-01 2710
1957-06-01 2856
1957-07-01 2796
1957-08-01 2747
1957-09-01 2943
1957-10-01 3020
1957-11-01 3454
1957-12-01 3476
1958-01-01 3875
1958-02-01 4303
1958-03-01 4492
1958-04-01 5016
1958-05-01 5021
1958-06-01 4944
1958-07-01 5079
1958-08-01 5025
1958-09-01 4821
1958-10-01 4570
1958-11-01 4188
1958-12-01 4191
1959-01-01 4068
1959-02-01 3965
1959-03-01 3801
1959-04-01 3571
1959-05-01 3479
1959-06-01 3429
1959-07-01 3528
1959-08-01 3588
1959-09-01 3775
1959-10-01 3910
1959-11-01 4003
1959-12-01 3653
1960-01-01 3615
1960-02-01 3329
1960-03-01 3726
1960-04-01 3620
1960-05-01 3569
1960-06-01 3766
1960-07-01 3836
1960-08-01 3946
1960-09-01 3884
1960-10-01 4252
1960-11-01 4330
1960-12-01 4617
1961-01-01 4671
1961-02-01 4832
1961-03-01 4853
1961-04-01 4893
1961-05-01 5003
1961-06-01 4885
1961-07-01 4928
1961-08-01 4682
1961-09-01 4676
1961-10-01 4573
1961-11-01 4295
1961-12-01 4177
1962-01-01 4081
1962-02-01 3871
1962-03-01 3921
1962-04-01 3906
1962-05-01 3863
1962-06-01 3844
1962-07-01 3819
1962-08-01 4013
1962-09-01 3961
1962-10-01 3803
1962-11-01 4024
1962-12-01 3907
1963-01-01 4074
1963-02-01 4238
1963-03-01 4072
1963-04-01 4055
1963-05-01 4217
1963-06-01 3977
1963-07-01 4051
1963-08-01 3878
1963-09-01 3957
1963-10-01 3987
1963-11-01 4151
1963-12-01 3975
1964-01-01 4029
1964-02-01 3932
1964-03-01 3950
1964-04-01 3918
1964-05-01 3764
1964-06-01 3814
1964-07-01 3608
1964-08-01 3655
1964-09-01 3712
1964-10-01 3726
1964-11-01 3551
1964-12-01 3651
1965-01-01 3572
1965-02-01 3730
1965-03-01 3510
1965-04-01 3595
1965-05-01 3432
1965-06-01 3387
1965-07-01 3301
1965-08-01 3254
1965-09-01 3216
1965-10-01 3143
1965-11-01 3073
1965-12-01 3031
1966-01-01 2988
1966-02-01 2820
1966-03-01 2887
1966-04-01 2828
1966-05-01 2950
1966-06-01 2872
1966-07-01 2876
1966-08-01 2900
1966-09-01 2798
1966-10-01 2798
1966-11-01 2770
1966-12-01 2912
1967-01-01 2968
1967-02-01 2915
1967-03-01 2889
1967-04-01 2895
1967-05-01 2929
1967-06-01 2992
1967-07-01 2944
1967-08-01 2945
1967-09-01 2958
1967-10-01 3143
1967-11-01 3066
1967-12-01 3018
1968-01-01 2878
1968-02-01 3001
1968-03-01 2877
1968-04-01 2709
1968-05-01 2740
1968-06-01 2938
1968-07-01 2883
1968-08-01 2768
1968-09-01 2686
1968-10-01 2689
1968-11-01 2715
1968-12-01 2685
1969-01-01 2718
1969-02-01 2692
1969-03-01 2712
1969-04-01 2758
1969-05-01 2713
1969-06-01 2816
1969-07-01 2868
1969-08-01 2856
1969-09-01 3040
1969-10-01 3049
1969-11-01 2856
1969-12-01 2884
1970-01-01 3201
1970-02-01 3453
1970-03-01 3635
1970-04-01 3797
1970-05-01 3919
1970-06-01 4071
1970-07-01 4175
1970-08-01 4256
1970-09-01 4456
1970-10-01 4591
1970-11-01 4898
1970-12-01 5076
1971-01-01 4986
1971-02-01 4903
1971-03-01 4987
1971-04-01 4959
1971-05-01 4996
1971-06-01 4949
1971-07-01 5035
1971-08-01 5134
1971-09-01 5042
1971-10-01 4954
1971-11-01 5161
1971-12-01 5154
1972-01-01 5019
1972-02-01 4928
1972-03-01 5038
1972-04-01 4959
1972-05-01 4922
1972-06-01 4923
1972-07-01 4913
1972-08-01 4939
1972-09-01 4849
1972-10-01 4875
1972-11-01 4602
1972-12-01 4543
1973-01-01 4326
1973-02-01 4452
1973-03-01 4394
1973-04-01 4459
1973-05-01 4329
1973-06-01 4363
1973-07-01 4305
1973-08-01 4305
1973-09-01 4350
1973-10-01 4144
1973-11-01 4396
1973-12-01 4489
1974-01-01 4644
1974-02-01 4731
1974-03-01 4634
1974-04-01 4618
1974-05-01 4705
1974-06-01 4927
1974-07-01 5063
1974-08-01 5022
1974-09-01 5437
1974-10-01 5523
1974-11-01 6140
1974-12-01 6636
1975-01-01 7501
1975-02-01 7520
1975-03-01 7978
1975-04-01 8210
1975-05-01 8433
1975-06-01 8220
1975-07-01 8127
1975-08-01 7928
1975-09-01 7923
1975-10-01 7897
1975-11-01 7794
1975-12-01 7744
1976-01-01 7534
1976-02-01 7326
1976-03-01 7230
1976-04-01 7330
1976-05-01 7053
1976-06-01 7322
1976-07-01 7490
1976-08-01 7518
1976-09-01 7380
1976-10-01 7430
1976-11-01 7620
1976-12-01 7545
1977-01-01 7280
1977-02-01 7443
1977-03-01 7307
1977-04-01 7059
1977-05-01 6911
1977-06-01 7134
1977-07-01 6829
1977-08-01 6925
1977-09-01 6751
1977-10-01 6763
1977-11-01 6815
1977-12-01 6386
1978-01-01 6489
1978-02-01 6318
1978-03-01 6337
1978-04-01 6180
1978-05-01 6127
1978-06-01 6028
1978-07-01 6309
1978-08-01 6080
1978-09-01 6125
1978-10-01 5947
1978-11-01 6077
1978-12-01 6228
1979-01-01 6109
1979-02-01 6173
1979-03-01 6109
1979-04-01 6069
1979-05-01 5840
1979-06-01 5959
1979-07-01 5996
1979-08-01 6320
1979-09-01 6190
1979-10-01 6296
1979-11-01 6238
1979-12-01 6325
1980-01-01 6683
1980-02-01 6702
1980-03-01 6729
1980-04-01 7358
1980-05-01 7984
1980-06-01 8098
1980-07-01 8363
1980-08-01 8281
1980-09-01 8021
1980-10-01 8088
1980-11-01 8023
1980-12-01 7718
1981-01-01 8071
1981-02-01 8051
1981-03-01 7982
1981-04-01 7869
1981-05-01 8174
1981-06-01 8098
1981-07-01 7863
1981-08-01 8036
1981-09-01 8230
1981-10-01 8646
1981-11-01 9029
1981-12-01 9267
1982-01-01 9397
1982-02-01 9705
1982-03-01 9895
1982-04-01 10244
1982-05-01 10335
1982-06-01 10538
1982-07-01 10849
1982-08-01 10881
1982-09-01 11217
1982-10-01 11529
1982-11-01 11938
1982-12-01 12051
1983-01-01 11534
1983-02-01 11545
1983-03-01 11408
1983-04-01 11268
1983-05-01 11154
1983-06-01 11246
1983-07-01 10548
1983-08-01 10623
1983-09-01 10282
1983-10-01 9887
1983-11-01 9499
1983-12-01 9331
1984-01-01 9008
1984-02-01 8791
1984-03-01 8746
1984-04-01 8762
1984-05-01 8456
1984-06-01 8226
1984-07-01 8537
1984-08-01 8519
1984-09-01 8367
1984-10-01 8381
1984-11-01 8198
1984-12-01 8358
1985-01-01 8423
1985-02-01 8321
1985-03-01 8339
1985-04-01 8395
1985-05-01 8302
1985-06-01 8460
1985-07-01 8513
1985-08-01 8196
1985-09-01 8248
1985-10-01 8298
1985-11-01 8128
1985-12-01 8138
1986-01-01 7795
1986-02-01 8402
1986-03-01 8383
1986-04-01 8364
1986-05-01 8439
1986-06-01 8508
1986-07-01 8319
1986-08-01 8135
1986-09-01 8310
1986-10-01 8243
1986-11-01 8159
1986-12-01 7883
1987-01-01 7892
1987-02-01 7865
1987-03-01 7862
1987-04-01 7542
1987-05-01 7574
1987-06-01 7398
1987-07-01 7268
1987-08-01 7261
1987-09-01 7102
1987-10-01 7227
1987-11-01 7035
1987-12-01 6936
1988-01-01 6953
1988-02-01 6929
1988-03-01 6876
1988-04-01 6601
1988-05-01 6779
1988-06-01 6546
1988-07-01 6605
1988-08-01 6843
1988-09-01 6604
1988-10-01 6568
1988-11-01 6537
1988-12-01 6518
1989-01-01 6682
1989-02-01 6359
1989-03-01 6205
1989-04-01 6468
1989-05-01 6375
1989-06-01 6577
1989-07-01 6495
1989-08-01 6511
1989-09-01 6590
1989-10-01 6630
1989-11-01 6725
1989-12-01 6667
1990-01-01 6752
1990-02-01 6651
1990-03-01 6598
1990-04-01 6797
1990-05-01 6742
1990-06-01 6590
1990-07-01 6922
1990-08-01 7188
1990-09-01 7368
1990-10-01 7459
1990-11-01 7764
1990-12-01 7901
1991-01-01 8015
1991-02-01 8265
1991-03-01 8586
1991-04-01 8439
1991-05-01 8736
1991-06-01 8692
1991-07-01 8586
1991-08-01 8666
1991-09-01 8722
1991-10-01 8842
1991-11-01 8931
1991-12-01 9198
1992-01-01 9283
1992-02-01 9454
1992-03-01 9460
1992-04-01 9415
1992-05-01 9744
1992-06-01 10040
1992-07-01 9850
1992-08-01 9787
1992-09-01 9781
1992-10-01 9398
1992-11-01 9565
1992-12-01 9557
1993-01-01 9325
1993-02-01 9183
1993-03-01 9056
1993-04-01 9110
1993-05-01 9149
1993-06-01 9121
1993-07-01 8930
1993-08-01 8763
1993-09-01 8714
1993-10-01 8750
1993-11-01 8542
1993-12-01 8477
1994-01-01 8630
1994-02-01 8583
1994-03-01 8470
1994-04-01 8331
1994-05-01 7915
1994-06-01 7927
1994-07-01 7946
1994-08-01 7933
1994-09-01 7734
1994-10-01 7632
1994-11-01 7375
1994-12-01 7230
1995-01-01 7375
1995-02-01 7187
1995-03-01 7153
1995-04-01 7645
1995-05-01 7430
1995-06-01 7427
1995-07-01 7527
1995-08-01 7484
1995-09-01 7478
1995-10-01 7328
1995-11-01 7426
1995-12-01 7423
1996-01-01 7491
1996-02-01 7313
1996-03-01 7318
1996-04-01 7415
1996-05-01 7423
1996-06-01 7095
1996-07-01 7337
1996-08-01 6882
1996-09-01 6979
1996-10-01 7031
1996-11-01 7236
1996-12-01 7253
1997-01-01 7158
1997-02-01 7102
1997-03-01 7000
1997-04-01 6873
1997-05-01 6655
1997-06-01 6799
1997-07-01 6655
1997-08-01 6608
1997-09-01 6656
1997-10-01 6454
1997-11-01 6308
1997-12-01 6476
1998-01-01 6368
1998-02-01 6306
1998-03-01 6422
1998-04-01 5941
1998-05-01 6047
1998-06-01 6212
1998-07-01 6259
1998-08-01 6179
1998-09-01 6300
1998-10-01 6280
1998-11-01 6100
1998-12-01 6032
1999-01-01 5976
1999-02-01 6111
1999-03-01 5783
1999-04-01 6004
1999-05-01 5796
1999-06-01 5951
1999-07-01 6025
1999-08-01 5838
1999-09-01 5915
1999-10-01 5778
1999-11-01 5716
1999-12-01 5653
2000-01-01 5708
2000-02-01 5858
2000-03-01 5733
2000-04-01 5481
2000-05-01 5758
2000-06-01 5651
2000-07-01 5747
2000-08-01 5853
2000-09-01 5625
2000-10-01 5534
2000-11-01 5639
2000-12-01 5634
2001-01-01 6023
2001-02-01 6089
2001-03-01 6141
2001-04-01 6271
2001-05-01 6226
2001-06-01 6484
2001-07-01 6583
2001-08-01 7042
2001-09-01 7142
2001-10-01 7694
2001-11-01 8003
2001-12-01 8258
2002-01-01 8182
2002-02-01 8215
2002-03-01 8304
2002-04-01 8599
2002-05-01 8399
2002-06-01 8393
2002-07-01 8390
2002-08-01 8304
2002-09-01 8251
2002-10-01 8307
2002-11-01 8520
2002-12-01 8640
2003-01-01 8520
2003-02-01 8618
2003-03-01 8588
2003-04-01 8842
2003-05-01 8957
2003-06-01 9266
2003-07-01 9011
2003-08-01 8896
2003-09-01 8921
2003-10-01 8732
2003-11-01 8576
2003-12-01 8317
2004-01-01 8370
2004-02-01 8167
2004-03-01 8491
2004-04-01 8170
2004-05-01 8212
2004-06-01 8286
2004-07-01 8136
2004-08-01 7990
2004-09-01 7927
2004-10-01 8061
2004-11-01 7932
2004-12-01 7934
2005-01-01 7784
2005-02-01 7980
2005-03-01 7737
2005-04-01 7672
2005-05-01 7651
2005-06-01 7524
2005-07-01 7406
2005-08-01 7345
2005-09-01 7553
2005-10-01 7453
2005-11-01 7566
2005-12-01 7279
2006-01-01 7064
2006-02-01 7184
2006-03-01 7072
2006-04-01 7120
2006-05-01 6980
2006-06-01 7001
2006-07-01 7175
2006-08-01 7091
2006-09-01 6847
2006-10-01 6727
2006-11-01 6872
2006-12-01 6762
2007-01-01 7116
2007-02-01 6927
2007-03-01 6731
2007-04-01 6850
2007-05-01 6766
2007-06-01 6979
2007-07-01 7149
2007-08-01 7067
2007-09-01 7170
2007-10-01 7237
2007-11-01 7240
2007-12-01 7645
2008-01-01 7685
2008-02-01 7497
2008-03-01 7822
2008-04-01 7637
2008-05-01 8395
2008-06-01 8575
2008-07-01 8937
2008-08-01 9438
2008-09-01 9494
2008-10-01 10074
2008-11-01 10538
2008-12-01 11286
2009-01-01 12058
2009-02-01 12898
2009-03-01 13426
2009-04-01 13853
2009-05-01 14499
2009-06-01 14707
2009-07-01 14601
2009-08-01 14814
2009-09-01 15009
2009-10-01 15352
2009-11-01 15219
2009-12-01 15098
2010-01-01 15046
2010-02-01 15113
2010-03-01 15202
2010-04-01 15325
2010-05-01 14849
2010-06-01 14474
2010-07-01 14512
2010-08-01 14648
2010-09-01 14579
2010-10-01 14516
2010-11-01 15081
2010-12-01 14348
2011-01-01 14013
2011-02-01 13820
2011-03-01 13737
2011-04-01 13957
2011-05-01 13855
2011-06-01 13962
2011-07-01 13763
2011-08-01 13818
2011-09-01 13948
2011-10-01 13594
2011-11-01 13302
2011-12-01 13093
2012-01-01 12797
2012-02-01 12813
2012-03-01 12713
2012-04-01 12646
2012-05-01 12660
2012-06-01 12692
2012-07-01 12656
2012-08-01 12471
2012-09-01 12115
2012-10-01 12124
2012-11-01 12005
2012-12-01 12298
2013-01-01 12471
2013-02-01 11950
2013-03-01 11689
2013-04-01 11760
2013-05-01 11654
2013-06-01 11751
2013-07-01 11335
2013-08-01 11279
2013-09-01 11270
2013-10-01 11136
2013-11-01 10787
2013-12-01 10404
2014-01-01 10202
2014-02-01 10349
2014-03-01 10380
2014-04-01 9702
2014-05-01 9859
2014-06-01 9460
2014-07-01 9608
2014-08-01 9599
2014-09-01 9262
2014-10-01 8990
2014-11-01 9090
2014-12-01 8717
2015-01-01 8885
2015-02-01 8599
2015-03-01 8515
2015-04-01 8550
2015-05-01 8834
2015-06-01 8247
2015-07-01 8167
2015-08-01 7992
2015-09-01 7907
2015-10-01 7922
2015-11-01 8000
2015-12-01 7907
2016-01-01 7627
2016-02-01 7702
2016-03-01 7961
2016-04-01 8067
2016-05-01 7652
2016-06-01 7744
2016-07-01 7641
2016-08-01 7784
2016-09-01 7953
2016-10-01 7811
2016-11-01 7553
2016-12-01 7521
2017-01-01 7468
2017-02-01 7379
2017-03-01 7073
2017-04-01 7089
2017-05-01 7000
2017-06-01 6873
2017-07-01 6892
2017-08-01 7082
2017-09-01 6854
2017-10-01 6700
2017-11-01 6774
2017-12-01 6632
2018-01-01 6489
2018-02-01 6581
2018-03-01 6472
2018-04-01 6459
2018-05-01 6196
2018-06-01 6447
2018-07-01 6195
2018-08-01 6156
2018-09-01 6073
2018-10-01 6211
2018-11-01 6115
2018-12-01 6389
2019-01-01 6475
2019-02-01 6136
2019-03-01 6202
2019-04-01 5961
2019-05-01 5930
2019-06-01 5935
2019-07-01 6061
2019-08-01 5945
2019-09-01 5753
2019-10-01 5871
2019-11-01 5868
2019-12-01 5853
2020-01-01 5842
2020-02-01 5729
2020-03-01 7209
2020-04-01 23090
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