Unemployment Rate
The unemployment rate (U-3) is the share of the labor force that is jobless and actively looking for work, from the BLS Current Population Survey of roughly 60,000 households. Published the first Friday of each month, it is the headline gauge of labor-market slack and one half of the Federal Reserve's dual mandate.
Unemployment rate
Next release: Oct 2, 2026
Latest reading
As of August 2026, the US unemployment rate is 4.1% — 10.7 pp below the April 2020 record of 14.8%. As of August 2026, Unemployment (Unemployment rate) stands at 4.1% — unchanged from 4.1% the prior reading. Roughly 4-5% is generally considered "full employment." The level matters less than the trend: the Sahm Rule flags recession risk once the 3-month-average rate rises about 0.5pt above its prior-year low, and the rate is lagging — it typically troughs near cycle peaks. Read it alongside payrolls and jobless claims, and watch labor-force participation, since discouraged workers who stop looking drop out of the rate entirely. Series history runs from 1948 to present.
Sources, methodology & freshnessLast updated 2026-09-04 · Open ↓Close ↑
Full history
Methodology & data
Unemployment is sourced from BLS via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (BLS via FRED (UNRATE), 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 Unemployment Rate?
The unemployment rate (U-3) is the share of the labor force that is jobless and actively looking for work, from the BLS Current Population Survey of roughly 60,000 households. Published the first Friday of each month, it is the headline gauge of labor-market slack and one half of the Federal Reserve's dual mandate.
How do you read Unemployment?
Roughly 4-5% is generally considered "full employment." The level matters less than the trend: the Sahm Rule flags recession risk once the 3-month-average rate rises about 0.5pt above its prior-year low, and the rate is lagging — it typically troughs near cycle peaks. Read it alongside payrolls and jobless claims, and watch labor-force participation, since discouraged workers who stop looking drop out of the rate entirely.
Where does the Unemployment data come from?
BLS via FRED (UNRATE), 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/unemployment-rate.csv.
How often is Unemployment updated?
Unemployment is a monthly series from BLS, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.
Unemployment rate
Next release: Oct 2, 2026