Unemployed persons (thousand persons; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly
This series is part of the dataset: US Employment Situation (BLS)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. In the United States, the number of unemployed persons was 7,109 thousand persons in September 2026, versus 7,031 in August 2026.
Sample. There are 944 data points in the monthly time series shown in the figure above. The series covers the time period going from January 1948 to September 2026.
History. Here's a snapshot of some descriptive statistics computed on the full sample: the number of unemployed persons attained a maximum of 23,084 thousand persons in April 2020; it recorded a bottom of 1,596 in May 1953; it had a mean value of 6,611.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Thousand persons |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | 6,916.00 |
| 2026-08-31 | 7,031.00 |
| 2026-09-30 | 7,109.00 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Unemployed persons |
| Country | United States |
| Economic concept | Stock |
| Data type | Quantity |
| Seasonally adjusted | Yes |
| Deflation method | Not applicable |
| Rescaling | None |
| Measure type | Level |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Unit | Thousand persons |
| Source | Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) |
| Source type | National statistical agency |
| Data licence | Public Domain Data |
| Other information | Not available |
| FSR temporal aggregation code | SM1 |
Series in the same data set
Discover the other time series included in this data set.
Headline
| Series Name | Observations | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total nonfarm employment (thousand persons; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 945 | 1948-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Unemployment rate (per cent; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 944 | 1948-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Labour force participation rate (per cent; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 944 | 1948-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Employment–population ratio (per cent; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 944 | 1948-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Average hourly earnings (total private; US dollars per hour; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 247 | 2006-03-31 | 2026-09-30 |
Household survey
Establishment survey
| Series Name | Observations | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total private employment (thousand persons; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 945 | 1948-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Goods-producing employment (thousand persons; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 945 | 1948-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Private service-providing employment (thousand persons; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 945 | 1948-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Government employment (thousand persons; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 945 | 1948-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |
Hours and overtime
| Series Name | Observations | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average weekly hours (total private; hours; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 247 | 2006-03-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Average weekly hours (manufacturing; hours; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 247 | 2006-03-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Average overtime hours (manufacturing; hours; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 247 | 2006-03-31 | 2026-09-30 |
Earnings
| Series Name | Observations | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average weekly earnings (total private; US dollars per week; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 247 | 2006-03-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Average real hourly earnings (total private; 1982–84 US dollars per hour; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 246 | 2006-03-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Average hourly earnings (manufacturing; US dollars per hour; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 247 | 2006-03-31 | 2026-09-30 |
| Average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees (total private; US dollars per hour; seasonally adjusted) - United States - BLS - Monthly | 753 | 1964-01-31 | 2026-09-30 |