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Chart guide

Labor Market

Unemployment Rate

Monitor US unemployment rate trends and labor market conditions over time

How to read this chart

Read the units and reporting frequency before comparing periods. A level, a month-to-month change, and a year-over-year change answer different questions. Compare related economic indicators over the same dates.

Interpretation and limitations

Economic releases can be revised. Publication dates and the periods being measured may differ, and historical relationships do not establish cause and effect.

Economic data documentation

Explore related charts

Labor Force Participation Rate
Employment-Population Ratio
Average Hourly Earnings
Initial Claims
Nonfarm Payrolls

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Labor Market
Unemployment RateFREE

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About Unemployment Rate

Monitor US unemployment rate trends and labor market conditions over time

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Related Analytics

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Labor Force Participation Rate

The labor force participation rate is everyone working or actively looking, divided by the civilian population aged 16+. It is the denominator behind the unemployment rate, which is why the two can move in misleading ways: unemployment falls when discouraged workers stop looking, because leaving the labor force removes them from the count entirely. Participation peaked near 67% in 2000 and has trended down with demographics, so read changes against that trend rather than against the level.

Employment-Population Ratio

The employment-population ratio is simply employed people divided by the civilian population aged 16+. Because it ignores whether the jobless are searching, it sidesteps the main distortion in the unemployment rate: it cannot be flattered by discouraged workers dropping out. That makes it the cleaner read on how much of the country is actually working, and the better series to compare across cycles.

Average Hourly Earnings

Monitor wage growth and average hourly earnings trends in the economy

Initial Claims

Initial claims count people filing for unemployment insurance for the FIRST time each week, so it captures fresh job losses rather than the stock of unemployed. It is the highest-frequency labor signal available, published weekly against monthly payrolls, which is why it turns before almost anything else. The series is noisy week to week (holidays, auto-plant shutdowns, single-state filing quirks), so read the 4-week moving average. Sustained readings above roughly 300k have historically marked genuine labor-market deterioration.

Nonfarm Payrolls

Track monthly changes in nonfarm employment and job growth trends

Sahm Rule Recession Indicator

The Sahm Rule triggers when the 3-month average unemployment rate rises 0.5 percentage points above its 12-month low, a threshold that has coincided with the start of every US recession since 1970. A simple, real-time recession-onset signal.

Labor Force Participation Rate

The labor force participation rate is everyone working or actively looking, divided by the civilian population aged 16+. It is the denominator behind the unemployment rate, which is why the two can move in misleading ways: unemployment falls when discouraged workers stop looking, because leaving the labor force removes them from the count entirely. Participation peaked near 67% in 2000 and has trended down with demographics, so read changes against that trend rather than against the level.

Employment-Population Ratio

The employment-population ratio is simply employed people divided by the civilian population aged 16+. Because it ignores whether the jobless are searching, it sidesteps the main distortion in the unemployment rate: it cannot be flattered by discouraged workers dropping out. That makes it the cleaner read on how much of the country is actually working, and the better series to compare across cycles.

Average Hourly Earnings

Monitor wage growth and average hourly earnings trends in the economy

Initial Claims

Initial claims count people filing for unemployment insurance for the FIRST time each week, so it captures fresh job losses rather than the stock of unemployed. It is the highest-frequency labor signal available, published weekly against monthly payrolls, which is why it turns before almost anything else. The series is noisy week to week (holidays, auto-plant shutdowns, single-state filing quirks), so read the 4-week moving average. Sustained readings above roughly 300k have historically marked genuine labor-market deterioration.

Nonfarm Payrolls

Track monthly changes in nonfarm employment and job growth trends

Sahm Rule Recession Indicator

The Sahm Rule triggers when the 3-month average unemployment rate rises 0.5 percentage points above its 12-month low, a threshold that has coincided with the start of every US recession since 1970. A simple, real-time recession-onset signal.

Labor Force Participation Rate

The labor force participation rate is everyone working or actively looking, divided by the civilian population aged 16+. It is the denominator behind the unemployment rate, which is why the two can move in misleading ways: unemployment falls when discouraged workers stop looking, because leaving the labor force removes them from the count entirely. Participation peaked near 67% in 2000 and has trended down with demographics, so read changes against that trend rather than against the level.

Employment-Population Ratio

The employment-population ratio is simply employed people divided by the civilian population aged 16+. Because it ignores whether the jobless are searching, it sidesteps the main distortion in the unemployment rate: it cannot be flattered by discouraged workers dropping out. That makes it the cleaner read on how much of the country is actually working, and the better series to compare across cycles.

Average Hourly Earnings

Monitor wage growth and average hourly earnings trends in the economy

Initial Claims

Initial claims count people filing for unemployment insurance for the FIRST time each week, so it captures fresh job losses rather than the stock of unemployed. It is the highest-frequency labor signal available, published weekly against monthly payrolls, which is why it turns before almost anything else. The series is noisy week to week (holidays, auto-plant shutdowns, single-state filing quirks), so read the 4-week moving average. Sustained readings above roughly 300k have historically marked genuine labor-market deterioration.

Nonfarm Payrolls

Track monthly changes in nonfarm employment and job growth trends

Sahm Rule Recession Indicator

The Sahm Rule triggers when the 3-month average unemployment rate rises 0.5 percentage points above its 12-month low, a threshold that has coincided with the start of every US recession since 1970. A simple, real-time recession-onset signal.

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