Nonfarm Payrolls
Nonfarm payrolls measures total paid US workers excluding farm, household, and nonprofit employees, drawn from the BLS establishment survey of roughly 670,000 worksites. The headline is the month-over-month change in jobs — a direct read on hiring and firing activity that often moves stocks, bonds, and currencies the moment it lands.
Monthly change
- Total jobs (millions)
- 159.1
Next release: Oct 2, 2026
Latest reading
As of August 2026, Payrolls (Monthly change) stands at 162K — up from 21.0K the prior reading, 97% below the June 2020 record of 4.63M. The economy needs roughly 100K-150K new jobs a month just to keep pace with population growth. Gains above +200K signal robust expansion; readings below +100K or negative prints flag slowdown or contraction. Watch the revisions — initial estimates are frequently revised, sometimes heavily — and the sector breakdown for where the strength or weakness is coming from. Series history runs from 1939 to present.
Sources, methodology & freshnessLast updated 2026-09-04 · Open ↓Close ↑
Full history
Monthly change
Total payrolls (level)
Total US nonfarm payroll jobs — the level the monthly change moves. A steadily rising line is an expanding labor market; outright declines mark recessions.
Methodology & data
Payrolls is sourced from BLS via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (BLS via FRED (PAYEMS), monthly, seasonally adjusted). We pull the complete history, chart it on a monthly basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date, last updated 2026-09-04. Maintained and reviewed by Yuriy Matso; see our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Nonfarm Payrolls?
Nonfarm payrolls measures total paid US workers excluding farm, household, and nonprofit employees, drawn from the BLS establishment survey of roughly 670,000 worksites. The headline is the month-over-month change in jobs — a direct read on hiring and firing activity that often moves stocks, bonds, and currencies the moment it lands.
How do you read Payrolls?
The economy needs roughly 100K-150K new jobs a month just to keep pace with population growth. Gains above +200K signal robust expansion; readings below +100K or negative prints flag slowdown or contraction. Watch the revisions — initial estimates are frequently revised, sometimes heavily — and the sector breakdown for where the strength or weakness is coming from.
Where does the Payrolls data come from?
BLS via FRED (PAYEMS), monthly, seasonally adjusted. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/nonfarm-payrolls.csv.
How often is Payrolls updated?
Payrolls is a monthly series from BLS, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.
Monthly change
- Total jobs (millions)
- 159.1
Next release: Oct 2, 2026