Explore
Unemployment Rate
Share of the labor force looking for work and not finding it.
4.2%
Percent · latest, Jun 2026
vs prior month▼ 0.1 pp
vs year ago▲ 0.1 pp
| 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% |
Hover the line to read any month. Drag across the chart to zoom; double-click to reset.
Source: FRED · UNRATE · series · Jan 1948 to Jun 2026 · latest-revised
Refreshed Jul 31, 2026 from FRED.
Share of the labor force looking for work and not finding it.
Civilian unemployment rate (U-3): the unemployed as a share of the labor force.
Source: FRED · Jun 2026 · Full lesson → Learn
About the bands. Shaded spans are NBER-dated US recessions, drawn as factual overlays. They mark when the economy contracted, not why. Lining an event up with a move is not evidence it caused the move.
Read across
No single number is the economy. These measure nearby parts of it — add one to compare, or open it on its own.
- U-6 Underemployment Rate A wider count of slack. It adds discouraged workers and involuntary part-timers the headline rate leaves out.
- Prime-Age Employment Rate The share of 25-to-54-year-olds actually working, which sidesteps who counts as looking.
- Nonfarm Payrolls The number of jobs, rather than the rate of joblessness.