Unemployment Rate
4.2%
· Jun 2026
econ
scout
1948-49 Recession · Nov 1948 – Oct 1949
1953-54 Recession · Jul 1953 – May 1954
1957-58 Recession · Aug 1957 – Apr 1958
1960-61 Recession · Apr 1960 – Feb 1961
1969-70 Recession · Dec 1969 – Nov 1970
1973-75 Recession · Nov 1973 – Mar 1975
1980 Recession · Jan 1980 – Jul 1980
1981-82 Recession · Jul 1981 – Nov 1982
1990-91 Recession · Jul 1990 – Mar 1991
2001 Recession · Mar 2001 – Nov 2001
Global Financial Crisis · Dec 2007 – Jun 2009
COVID-19 Recession · Feb 2020 – Apr 2020
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
4.2%
Unemployment Rate — one value per year; US recessions are shaded on the chart.
Year
Unemployment Rate
1948
4.0%
1949
6.6%
1950
4.3%
1951
3.1%
1952
2.7%
1953
4.5%
1954
5.0%
1955
4.2%
1956
4.2%
1957
5.2%
1958
6.2%
1959
5.3%
1960
6.6%
1961
6.0%
1962
5.5%
1963
5.5%
1964
5.0%
1965
4.0%
1966
3.8%
1967
3.8%
1968
3.4%
1969
3.5%
1970
6.1%
1971
6.0%
1972
5.2%
1973
4.9%
1974
7.2%
1975
8.2%
1976
7.8%
1977
6.4%
1978
6.0%
1979
6.0%
1980
7.2%
1981
8.5%
1982
10.8%
1983
8.3%
1984
7.3%
1985
7.0%
1986
6.6%
1987
5.7%
1988
5.3%
1989
5.4%
1990
6.3%
1991
7.3%
1992
7.4%
1993
6.5%
1994
5.5%
1995
5.6%
1996
5.4%
1997
4.7%
1998
4.4%
1999
4.0%
2000
3.9%
2001
5.7%
2002
6.0%
2003
5.7%
2004
5.4%
2005
4.9%
2006
4.4%
2007
5.0%
2008
7.3%
2009
9.9%
2010
9.3%
2011
8.5%
2012
7.9%
2013
6.7%
2014
5.6%
2015
5.0%
2016
4.7%
2017
4.1%
2018
3.9%
2019
3.6%
2020
6.7%
2021
3.9%
2022
3.5%
2023
3.8%
2024
4.1%
2025
4.4%
2026
4.2%
Source: FRED · UNRATE · econscout.com