Unemployment rates for skilled workers compared to unemployment rates for unskilled workers are

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

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This page contains information on the labor force data on characteristics of employed and unemployed persons and persons not in the labor force. Data on hours of work, earnings, and demographic characteristics also are available.

Labor force information for States, counties, and cities are available separately from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program. Contact LAUS by e-mail or call (202) 691-6392.

Absences

See also Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic for a discussion of people not at work in the monthly impact summary.

• Data on absences from work - learn more about the absence measures and retrieve time series


• Employed people who did not work during the survey reference week
  • Missed work due to own illness -- Time series quick-links:
    • People with a job, but not at work due to own illness, all industries
    • People who usually work full time, but were at work part time due to own illness, all industries
  • Missed work due to bad weather -- Time series quick-links:
    • People with a job, but not at work due to bad weather, nonagricultural sector
    • People who usually work full time, but were at work part time due to bad weather, nonagricultural sector
  • Unpaid absences (all reasons) -- Time series quick-link:
    • Nonagricultural wage and salary workers not at work, absence was unpaid
      (excludes private household workers)
• Absences from work of employed full-time wage and salary workers (employee absences)
  
  • Annual tables


• Charts:
  • 4.2 million workers have illness-related work absences in January 2018 (March 2018)
  • Work absences due to bad weather from 1994 to 2016 (January 2017)
  • Illness-related work absences in January 2015 little different from a year earlier (February 2015)
  • Illness-related work absences in January 2013 highest since February 2008 (February 2013)


• Articles:
  • Work absences due to bad weather: analysis of data from 1977 to 2010 (February 2012) (PDF)
  • Illness-related work absences during flu season (July 2010) (PDF)

Annual labor market summary

Each year a summary of the labor market is published in the Monthly Labor Review.

• U.S. labor market shows improvement in 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic continues to weigh on the economy (June 2022)
• Unemployment rises in 2020, as the country battles the COVID-19 pandemic (June 2021)
• Job market remains tight in 2019, as the unemployment rate falls to its lowest level since 1969 (April 2020)
• Tight labor market continues in 2018 as the unemployment rate falls to a 49-year low (May 2019)
• Job market continued to improve in 2017 as the unemployment rate declined to a 17-year low (April 2018)
• Unemployment holds steady for much of 2016 but edges down in the fourth quarter (April 2017)
• Unemployment rate nears prerecession level by end of 2015 (April 2016)
• Continued improvement in U.S. labor market in 2014 (April 2015)
• Unemployment continued its downward trend in 2013 (April 2014)
• U.S. labor market continued to improve in 2012 (March 2013) (PDF)
• U.S. labor market shows gradual improvement in 2011 (March 2012) (PDF)
• Unemployment remains high in 2010 (March 2011) (PDF)
• The labor market in 2009: recession drags on (March 2010) (PDF)
• U.S. labor market in 2008: economy in recession (March 2009) (PDF)
• Household survey indicators weaken in 2007 (March 2008) (PDF)
• Household survey data show labor market improvements in 2006 (March 2007) (PDF)
• Lower unemployment in 2005 (March 2006) (PDF)
• Household survey indicators show some improvement in 2004 (March 2005) (PDF)
• The US labor market in 2003: signs of improvement by year’s end (March 2004) (PDF)
• US labor market in 2002: continued weakness (February 2003) (PDF)
• US labor market in 2001: economy enters a recession (February 2002) (PDF)
• The job market in 2000: slowing down as the year ended (February 2001) (PDF)

Class of worker

See Self-employed persons.

Computer and Internet use

These data on computer and Internet use at work come from a special supplemental survey last conducted in October 2003.

• News release: Computer and Internet Use at Work
  (PDF) (Archives)


• Article: Computer and Internet use at work in 2001 (February 2003) (PDF)

Contingent and alternative employment arrangements

Contingent workers are people who do not expect their jobs to last or who reported that their jobs are temporary. They do not have an implicit or explicit contract for continuing employment. Alternative employment arrangements include people employed as independent contractors, on-call workers, temporary help agency workers, and workers provided by contract firms. See also Electronically mediated employment.

• News release: Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements
  (PDF) (Archives)


• Frequently asked questions about contingent and alternative employment arrangements


• Short video introducing the concepts of contingent work and alternative employment arrangements


• Charts:
  • Workers in Alternative Employment Arrangements, Spotlight on Statistics (November 2018)
  • A Look at Contingent Workers, Spotlight on Statistics (September 2018)
  • Independent contractors made up 6.9 percent of employment in May 2017 (June 2018)
  • 3.8 percent of workers were contingent in May 2017 (June 2018)


• Articles:
  • Contingent work in the late-1990s (March 2001) (PDF)
  • Characteristics of and preference for alternative work arrangements, 1999 (March 2001) (PDF)
  • Workers in alternative employment arrangements: a second look (November 1998) (PDF)
  • Contingent work: results from the second survey (November 1998) (PDF)
  • Gains in job security (March 1998) (PDF)
  • Contingent and alternative work arrangements, defined (October 1996) (PDF)
  • A profile of contingent workers (October 1996) (PDF)
  • Earnings and benefits of contingent and noncontingent workers (October 1996) (PDF)
  • Workers in alternative employment arrangements (October 1996) (PDF)
  • Earnings and benefits of workers in alternative work arrangements (October 1996) (PDF)
  • Into contingent and alternative employment: by choice? (October 1996) (PDF)
  • On the definition of 'contingent work' (December 1989) (PDF)


• Blogs:
  • New Recommendations on Improving Data on Contingent and Alternative Work Arrangements (August 2020)
  • Tracking the Changing Nature of Work: the Process Continues (February 2019)
  • BLS Measures Electronically Mediated Work (September 2018)


• Beyond BLS: Recommendations from the Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) to improve BLS measures: Measuring Alternative Work Arrangements for Research and Policy (2020) (news release)

Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

Beginning with the publication of data for March 2020, reports highlight the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it. See also Absences.

• News release: Employment Situation (Monthly)
  (PDF) (Charts) (Archives) (Schedule)
• Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation (Monthly)
  (PDF) (Archives)


• Effects of COVID-19 pandemic and response on the Employment Situation news release (Monthly impact summary)


• Supplemental data measuring the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the labor market


• Charts
  • Workers ages 25 to 54 more likely to telework due to COVID-19 in February 2021 (March 2021)
  • One-quarter of the employed teleworked in August 2020 because of COVID-19 pandemic (September 2020)


• Learn more about how the pandemic is affecting other BLS programs.

Discouraged workers

Discouraged workers are a subset of persons marginally attached to the labor force. The marginally attached are those persons not in the labor force who want and are available for work, and who have looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months, but were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the marginally attached, discouraged workers were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them or there were none for which they would qualify. See also Not in the labor force and Alternative measures of labor underutilization.

• News release: Employment Situation (Monthly), Table A-16
  (PDF) (Charts) (Archives) (Schedule)


• Database: Retrieve historical data series
  • Seasonally adjusted series: People marginally attached to labor force and Discouraged workers
  • Persons not in the labor force by sex, not seasonally adjusted


• Annual table: Persons not in the labor force by desire and availability for work, age, and sex (PDF) (XLSX)


• Monthly table: Persons not in the labor force by desire and availability for work, age, and sex (PDF)


• Charts:
  • Persons not in the labor force, selected indicators (Monthly)
  • Persons not in the labor force who want a job article (Monthly)


• Articles:
  • Ranks of discouraged workers and others marginally attached to the labor force rise during recession (April 2009) (PDF)
  • Persons outside the labor force who want a job (July 1998) (PDF)

Displaced workers

Data on displaced workers are collected from a special supplementary survey conducted every 2 years. Displaced workers are defined as persons 20 years of age and older who lost or left jobs because their plant or company closed or moved, there was insufficient work for them to do, or their position or shift was abolished.

• News release: Worker Displacement
  (PDF) (Archives)


• Charts:
  • Seventy percent of workers displaced from 2017 to 2019 were reemployed in January 2020 (September 2020)
  • Two-thirds of workers displaced from 2015 to 2017 were reemployed in January 2018 (September 2018)
  • Two-thirds of workers displaced from 2013 to 2015 were reemployed in January 2016 (August 2016)
  • Reemployment following worker displacement in 2011–2013 by industry (September 2014)
  • Sixty-one percent of workers displaced in 2011–2013 were reemployed in January 2014 (August 2014)
  • Employment status of displaced workers (August 2012)
  • Displaced workers by industry (October 2011)
  • Characteristics of displaced workers 2007–2009: a visual essay (PDF)
  • Reemployment rates of displaced workers, January 2010 (September 2010)
  • Displaced workers' earnings at new jobs, January 2008 (August 2008)
  • Reason for job losses among workers displaced in 2005–07 (August 2008)


• Articles:
  • Worker displacement in 1999–2000 (June 2004) (PDF)
  • Worker displacement in a strong labor market (June 2001) (PDF)


• Revised data from the February 1994 Displaced Worker Survey

Electronically mediated employment (EME)

BLS added four new questions to the May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement. These questions were designed to measure an emerging type of work—electronically mediated employment, generally defined as short jobs or tasks that workers find through mobile apps that both connect them with customers and arrange payment for the tasks.

• Data on electronically mediated employment


• Frequently asked questions about electronically mediated employment, including a description of problems with the data from the new questions


• Article: Electronically mediated work: new questions in the Contingent Worker Supplement (September 2018)


• Blogs:
  • New Recommendations on Improving Data on Contingent and Alternative Work Arrangements (August 2020)
  • Tracking the Changing Nature of Work: the Process Continues (February 2019)
  • BLS Measures Electronically Mediated Work (September 2018)


• Beyond BLS: Recommendations from the Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) to improve BLS measures: Measuring Alternative Work Arrangements for Research and Policy (2020) (news release)

Employed persons

Employed persons consist of: persons who did any work for pay or profit during the survey reference week; persons who did at least 15 hours of unpaid work in a family-operated enterprise; and persons who were temporarily absent from their regular jobs because of illness, vacation, bad weather, industrial dispute, or various personal reasons. The employment-population ratio represents the proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population that is employed. Data are also available for Demographics, Earnings, Hours of work, and other employment characteristics. See also Labor force and Unemployment.

• Learn more about how the government measures employment and unemployment


• News release: Employment Situation (Monthly)
  (PDF) (Charts) (Archives) (Schedule)
  • Effects of COVID-19 pandemic and response on the Employment Situation (Monthly impact summary)
• Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation (Monthly)
  (PDF) (Archives)


• Supplemental data measuring the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the labor market


• Database: Retrieve historical data series
  
  • Most requested series
  • Top series on employed persons
  • More options


• Annual tables:
  • Employment status tables
  • Characteristics of the employed including occupation and industry and hours of work


• Monthly tables:
  • Employment status tables, seasonally adjusted
  • Employment status tables, not seasonally adjusted
  • Characteristics of the employed, seasonally adjusted including part-time status, age, and sex
  • Characteristics of the employed, not seasonally adjusted including occupation and industry and hours of work


• Charts:
  • Employment-population ratio (Monthly)
  • Selected measures of employment (Monthly)
  • Other charts related to the latest "The Employment Situation" news release (Monthly)
  • Employment�population ratio and labor force participation rate by age (August 2017)
  • Employment trends from two surveys (April 2012)


• Articles: See also Annual labor market summary
  • Great Recession, great recovery? Trends from the Current Population Survey (April 2018)
  • Sizing up the 2007–09 recession: comparing two key labor market indicators with earlier downturns (December 2010) (PDF)
  • Change in employment by occupation, industry, and earnings quartile, 2000–05 (December 2006) (PDF)
  • Who was affected as the economy started to slow (November 2001) (PDF)
  • Earnings and employment trends in the 1990s (March 2000) (PDF)
  • Employment and unemployment: the doughnut or the hole? (February 1976)

Full- or part-time status

Full time is 35 hours or more per week; part time is 1 to 34 hours per week.

See also Hours of work, Work experience, and Work schedules (flexible and shift schedules).

• Database: Retrieve historical data series


• Annual tables:
  • Full- or part-time status by age, sex, race and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity (PDF) (XLSX)
  • Full- or part-time status by detailed Hispanic or Latino group (PDF) (XLSX)


• Monthly tables:
  • Full- or part-time status by sex and age, seasonally adjusted (PDF)
  • Full- or part-time status by age, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity (PDF)


• Quarterly tables:
  • Full- or part-time status by sex and age, seasonally adjusted (PDF)
  • Full- or part-time status by race (PDF)
  • Full- or part-time status by detailed Hispanic or Latino group (PDF)


• Article: Who chooses part-time work and why? (March 2018)

Part time for economic reasons (involuntary part time)

This category includes people who indicated that they would like to work full time but were working part time (1 to 34 hours) because of an economic reason, such as their hours were cut back or they were unable to find full-time jobs. (Learn more about how this category is defined.)

• News release: Employment Situation (Monthly), Table A-8
  (PDF) (Charts) (Archives) (Schedule)


• Database: Retrieve historical data series


• Annual tables:
  • Persons at work part time by reason (PDF) (XLSX)
  • Persons at work part time by reason and industry (PDF) (XLSX)
  • Persons at work part time by reason, age, sex, race, and Hispanic ethnicity (PDF) (XLSX)
  • Persons at work part time by reason and occupation (PDF) (XLSX)


• Monthly tables:
  • Persons at work part time by reason (PDF)
  • Persons at work part time by reason and industry (PDF)
  • Persons at work part time by reason, age, sex, race, and Hispanic ethnicity (PDF)
  • Persons at work part time by reason and occupation (PDF)


• Chart: Involuntary part-time work, April 2006 and November 2008 (January 2009)


• Articles:
  • Who chooses part-time work and why? (March 2018)
  • Involuntary part-time work on the rise (December 2008) (PDF)

Flexible and shift schedules

See Work schedules.

Hours of work

Data measure average hours at work per week and distributions of employed persons by hours at work. See also Full- or part-time status.

• Annual tables:
  • Persons at work by hours of work (PDF) (XLSX)
  • Average hours at work by industry (PDF) (XLSX)
  • Average hours at work by age, sex, race, and Hispanic ethnicity (PDF) (XLSX)
  • Average hours at work by occupation (PDF) (XLSX)


• Monthly tables:
  • Persons at work by hours of work (PDF)
  • Average hours at work by industry (PDF)
  • Average hours at work by age, sex, race, and Hispanic ethnicity (PDF)
  • Average hours at work by occupation (PDF)


• Articles:
  • Seasonally adjusted hours series from the Current Population Survey (July 2010) (PDF)
  • Are managers and professionals really working more? (May 2000) (PDF)

Industry

See Occupation and industry.

Labor force

The labor force is the sum of employed and unemployed persons. The labor force participation rate is the labor force as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population. Browse various labor force characteristics. Data also are available by demographic characteristics. See also Not in the labor force.

• News release: Employment Situation (Monthly)
  (PDF) (Charts) (Archives) (Schedule)
• Effects of COVID-19 pandemic and response on the Employment Situation (Monthly impact summary)


• Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation (Monthly)
  (PDF) (Archives)


• Supplemental data measuring the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the labor market


• Database: Retrieve historical data series
  
  • Top series
  • Top series by race
  • Top series by Hispanic ethnicity
  • Top series by educational attainment
  • More options


• Annual tables:
  • Labor force status by age, sex, and race (PDF) (XLSX)
  • Labor force status by Hispanic or Latino ethnicity (PDF) (XLSX)
  • Labor force status by detailed Hispanic or Latino group (PDF) (XLSX)
  • Labor force status by educational attainment (PDF) (XLSX)


• Monthly tables:
  • Labor force status by age and sex, seasonally adjusted (PDF)
  • Labor force status by age, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, seasonally adjusted (PDF)
  • Labor force status by educational attainment, seasonally adjusted (PDF)


• Charts:
  • Labor force participation rate (Monthly)
  • Other charts related to the latest "The Employment Situation" news release (Monthly)
  • Employment�population ratio and labor force participation rate by age (August 2017)


• Articles: See also Annual labor market summary, Employment, Not in the labor force, and Unemployment
  • Great Recession, great recovery? Trends from the Current Population Survey (April 2018)
  • Labor force participation: what has happened since the peak? (September 2016)
  • Trends in labor force participation of married mothers of infants (February 2007) (PDF)
  • Trends in labor force participation in the United States (October 2006) (PDF)
  • The labor force and unemployment: three generations of change (June 2004) (PDF)
  • Labor force participation during recent labor market downturns (September 2003) (PDF)
  • The labor force experience of women from ‘Generation X’ (March 2002) (PDF)
  • Who was affected as the economy started to slow (November 2001) (PDF)
  • Looking for a ‘better’ job: job-search activity of the employed (September 2000) (PDF)
  • Labor supply in a tight labor market (June 2000) (PDF)

Labor force status flows

• Learn more about research series on labor force status flows


• Database: Retrieve historical data series


• Monthly tables:
  • Labor force status flows by sex, current month (PDF)
  • Labor force status flows by sex, recent months (PDF)


• Charts:
  • Length of job search for the unemployed (April 2012)
  • Duration of unemployment, 1994–2010 (June 2011)
  • Flows into and out of employment in recent recessions (May 2009)


• Articles:
  • Employed workers leaving the labor force: an analysis of recent trends (May 2017) (PDF)
  • Job search of the unemployed by duration of unemployment (March 2012) (PDF)
  • How long before the unemployed find jobs or quit looking? (May 2011) (PDF)
  • Labor force flows in the most recent recession (July 2010) (PDF)
  • Trends in labor force flows during recent recessions (April 2009) (PDF)
  • Why has unemployment risen? Insights from labor force flows (June 2008) (PDF)
  • Studying the labor market using BLS labor dynamics data (February 2008) (PDF)
  • Analyzing CPS data using gross flows (September 2005) (PDF)
  • Estimating gross flows consistent with stocks in the CPS (September 2005) (PDF)

Marginally attached to the labor force

See: Discouraged workers.

Multiple jobholders

Data on employed persons with more than one job.

• Database: Retrieve historical data series
  
  • Top series (seasonally adjusted level and rate)
  • Multiple jobholders by sex


• Annual table: Multiple jobholders by demographic and economic characteristics (PDF) (XLSX)


• Monthly table: Multiple jobholders by demographic and economic characteristics (PDF)


• Charts:
  • 4.9 percent of workers held more than one job at the same time in 2017 (July 2018)
  • Demographics of multiple jobholding (August 2010)


• Articles:
  • Multiple jobholding during the 2000s (July 2010) (PDF)
  • Twenty-first century moonlighters (September 2002) (PDF)

Not in the labor force

Persons who are neither employed nor unemployed are not in the labor force. This category includes retired persons, students, those taking care of children or other family members, and others who are neither working nor seeking work. Information is collected on their desire for and availability for work, job search activity in the prior year, and reasons for not currently searching. See also Labor force and Discouraged workers.

• Supplemental data measuring the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the labor market


• Database: Retrieve historical data series
  
  • Top series
  • Persons not in the labor force by desire and availability for work
  • More options


• Annual tables:
  • Labor force status tables
  • Persons not in the labor force by desire and availability for work, age, and sex (PDF) (XLSX)


• Monthly tables:
  • Labor force status tables, seasonally adjusted
  • Labor force status tables, not seasonally adjusted
  • Persons not in the labor force by desire and availability for work, age, and sex (PDF)


• Chart: Reasons people give for not being in the labor force, 2004 and 2014 (January 2016)


• Articles:
  • People who are not in the labor force: why aren't they working? (December 2015)
  • Ranks of discouraged workers and others marginally attached to the labor force rise during recession (April 2009) (PDF)
  • Labor force participation during recent labor market downturns (September 2003) (PDF)
  • Labor supply in a tight labor market (June 2000) (PDF)
  • Persons outside the labor force who want a job (July 1998) (PDF)

Occupation and industry

Employed persons are classified by occupation (what kind of work they do) and industry (what kind of work their employer or business does). Unemployed persons are classified according to their last job. See also Earnings by occupation and industry.

• Database: Retrieve historical data series
  
  • Employment and unemployment by occupation
  • Unemployment by industry


• Annual tables: Employed persons by occupation and industry
• Annual tables: Unemployed persons by occupation and industry


• Monthly tables: Employed persons by occupation and industry
• Monthly tables: Unemployed persons by occupation and industry
• Charts:
  • 39 percent of managers in 2015 were women (August 2016)
  • Educational attainment and occupation groups by race and ethnicity in 2014 (November 2015)
  • Occupational employment by race and ethnicity, 2011 (October 2012)
  • Employed Asians by occupation, 2008–2010 (May 2012)
  • Women as a percent of total employed in selected occupations, 2011 (May 2012)
  • Earnings and employment by occupation, race, ethnicity, and sex, 2010 (September 2011)
  • Employed foreign-born and native-born persons by occupation, 2010 (June 2011)
  • Occupations and foreign-born workers in 2007 (April 2008)


• Articles:
  • Change in employment by occupation, industry, and earnings quartile, 2000–05 (December 2006) (PDF)
  • Earnings and employment trends in the 1990s (March 2000) (PDF)


• Occupational and industry classifications used in the CPS
• More information on the CPS occupational and industry classifications

Part-time workers

See: Full- and part-time status.

Self-employed persons (class of worker)

Employed persons are categorized by class of worker based on their relationship to their employer. The class-of-worker categories include private and government wage and salary workers, self-employed workers, and unpaid family workers.

• Database: Retrieve historical data series
  
  • Class of worker series (unincorporated self-employed only)
  • Self-employed series (incorporated and unincorporated self-employed)


• Annual tables: Class of worker tables (includes self-employed)


• Monthly table: Class of worker, seasonally adjusted (includes self-employed)
• Monthly tables: Class of worker tables, not seasonally adjusted (includes self-employed)


• Chart: Demographics of the self-employed (October 2010)


• Articles:
  • Self-employment in the United States (March 2016)
  • Self-employment in the United States (September 2010) (PDF)
  • Self-employment in the United States: an update (July 2004) (PDF)
  • Measuring self-employment in the United States (January 1996) (PDF)
  • Self-employed workers: an update to 1983 (July 1984) (PDF)


• Information on the 2011 change in the display of data for the self-employed (including the incorporated self-employed)

Shift work

See Work schedules.

Summer work

Information on the April to July labor force participation of youth 16 to 24 years old is published each August. See also Youth.

• News release: Summer Employment and Unemployment Among Youth (Annual)
  (PDF) (Archives)


• Charts:
  • 46.7 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds employed in July 2020, down 9.5 percentage points from July 2019 (August 2020)
  • Youth labor force participation rate at 61.8 percent in July 2019, a 9-year high (August 2019)
  • 55.0 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds employed in July 2018 (August 2018)
  • Summer youth labor force in July 2017 (August 2017)
  • Youth unemployment rate, 11.5 percent; employment�population ratio, 53.2 percent in July 2016 (August 2016)
  • Summer youth employment in July 2015 (August 2015)
  • Youth employment and unemployment, July 2014 (August 2014)
  • Youth labor force participation rate in July 2013 same as a year earlier (August 2013)
  • Youth employment in summer 2012 (August 2012)
  • Youth employment in July 2011 (August 2011)
  • School's Out, Spotlight on Statistics (July 2011), includes CPS and other BLS survey data
  • Youth unemployment and employment in July 2010 (August 2010)
  • Youth unemployment and employment in July 2009 (August 2009)
  • Summer 2008 labor force participation of youth (September 2008)
  • Unemployment among youth, Summer 2008 (August 2008)


• Article: The early 2000s: a period of declining teen summer employment rates (May 2010) (PDF)

Tenure

Data on employee tenure, which measure how long workers had been with their current employer at the time they were surveyed, come from a special supplemental survey conducted every 2 years.

• News release: Employee Tenure
  (PDF) (Archives)


• Charts:
  • Median tenure with current employer was 4.1 years in January 2020 (September 2020)
  • About 15 percent of workers age 65 and older had been with employer 2 years or less in 2018 (July 2019)
  • Median tenure with current employer was 4.2 years in January 2018 (September 2018)
  • 28 percent of workers age 55 and over have been with their current employer 20 years or more (September 2016)
  • Median employee tenure unchanged at 4.6 years in January 2014 (September 2014)
  • Tenure of American workers, Spotlight on Statistics (September 2013), includes CPS and other BLS survey data
  • Employee tenure in 2012 (September 2012)
  • Employee tenure, January 2010 (September 2010)
  • Employee tenure by industry, 2008 (October 2008)
  • Employees with 10 years or more of tenure with the same employer, 2008 (September 2008)

Unemployment

Persons are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work. Persons who were not working and were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been temporarily laid off are also included as unemployed. Receiving benefits from the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program has no bearing on whether a person is classified as unemployed.

The unemployment rate represents the number unemployed as a percent of the labor force. Unemployment data also are available by demographic characteristics. See also Labor force and Employment.

• Learn more about how the government measures unemployment
• Changes to data collected on unemployment duration introduced in 2011


• News release: Employment Situation (Monthly)
  (PDF) (Charts) (Archives) (Schedule)
  • Effects of COVID-19 pandemic and response on the Employment Situation (Monthly impact summary)
• Commissioner's Statement on the Employment Situation (Monthly)
  (HTML) (PDF) (Archives)


• Supplemental data measuring the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the labor market


• FAQ: Where can I find the unemployment rate for previous years?


• Database: Retrieve historical data series
  
  • Most requested series
  • Top series on unemployed persons
  • More options


• Annual tables:
  • Employment status tables showing unemployed persons and the unemployment rate
  • Characteristics of the unemployed including duration of unemployment and reason for unemployment


• Monthly tables:
  • Employment status tables, seasonally adjusted showing unemployed persons and the unemployment rate
  • Employment status tables, not seasonally adjusted showing unemployed persons and the unemployment rate
  • Characteristics of the unemployed, seasonally adjusted including duration of unemployment and reason for unemployment
  • Characteristics of the unemployed, not seasonally adjusted including duration of unemployment and reason for unemployment


• Charts:
  • Unemployment rate (Monthly)
  • Unemployed persons (Monthly)
  • Other charts related to the latest "The Employment Situation" news release (Monthly)
  • Trends in long-term unemployment, Spotlight on Statistics (March 2015)
  • Length of job search for the unemployed (April 2012)
  • Duration of unemployment, 1994–2010 (June 2011)
  • Duration of unemployment in February 2011 (March 2011)


• Articles: See also Annual labor market summary
  • How do jobseekers search for jobs? New data on applications, interviews, and job offers (November 2020)
  • Great Recession, great recovery? Trends from the Current Population Survey (April 2018)
  • The Current Population Survey—tracking unemployment in the United States for over 75 years (January 2018)
  • Trends in unemployment and other labor market difficulties (November 2014) (PDF)
  • Job search of the unemployed by duration of unemployment (March 2012) (PDF)
  • How long before the unemployed find jobs or quit looking? (May 2011) (PDF)
  • Sizing up the 2007–09 recession: comparing two key labor market indicators with earlier downturns (December 2010) (PDF)
  • Ranks of those unemployed for a year or more up sharply (October 2010) (PDF)
  • Long-term unemployment experience of the jobless (June 2010) (PDF)
  • Record unemployment among older workers does not keep them out of the job market (March 2010) (PDF)
  • Measures of labor underutilization from the Current Population Survey (March 2009) (Abstract) (PDF)
  • The unemployment rate and beyond: alternative measures of labor underutilization (June 2008) (PDF)
  • Why has unemployment risen? Insights from labor force flows (June 2008) (PDF)
  • A glance at long-term unemployment in recent recessions (January 2006) (PDF)
  • Who was affected as the economy started to slow (November 2001) (PDF)
  • Unemployed job leavers: a meaningful gauge of confidence in the job market? (October 2000) (PDF)
  • Looking for a ‘better’ job: job-search activity of the employed (September 2000) (PDF)
  • BLS introduces new range of alternative unemployment measures (October 1995) (PDF)
  • Employment and unemployment: the doughnut or the hole? (February 1976)

Alternative measures of labor underutilization (U-1 through U-6)

This range of measures encompasses concepts both broader and narrower than the definition of unemployment. See also State estimates.

• News release: Employment Situation (Monthly), Table A-15
  (PDF) (Charts) (Archives) (Schedule)


• Database: Retrieve historical data series


• Charts:
  • Alternative measures of labor underutilization (Monthly)
  • Unemployment and other labor market difficulties (November 2014)
  • The unemployment rate and beyond, May 2007 and 2008 (July 2008)


• Articles:
  • Trends in unemployment and other labor market difficulties (November 2014) (PDF)
  • Measures of labor underutilization from the Current Population Survey (March 2009) (Abstract) (PDF)
  • The unemployment rate and beyond: alternative measures of labor underutilization (June 2008) (PDF)
  • BLS introduces new range of alternative unemployment measures (October 1995) (PDF)
  • Employment and unemployment: the doughnut or the hole? (February 1976)

Characteristics of Unemployment Insurance Applicants and Benefit Recipients

A 2018 special supplemental survey provided information on people who applied for or received unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. This information is not available from the basic monthly labor force survey that is the source of national estimates of unemployment.

• News release: Characteristics of Unemployment Insurance Applicants and Benefit Recipients (2018)
  (PDF)


• Frequently asked questions about data on unemployment insurance (UI) applicants, nonapplicants, and benefit recipients


• Charts:
  • Most unemployed people in 2018 did not apply for unemployment insurance benefits (October 2019)
  • Did You Know Official Unemployment Estimates Are NOT from Unemployment Insurance Counts? (October 2019)

Union members

Data measure union membership and representation of employed wage and salary workers. See also Union earnings.

• News release: Union Members (Annual)
  (PDF) (Archives)


• Time series quick-links:
  • Union membership rate (all years):   Total   Private sector   Public sector
  • Retrieve state union membership rates
    NOTE: BLS does not have state union membership data for the private and public sectors or for industries.
    BLS tabulates only total union membership at the state level.


• Databases:
  • Retrieve historical data series from news release
  • Most requested series
  • More options


• Annual tables: Union membership


• Charts:
  • A look at union membership rates across industries in 2020 (February 2021)
  • Union membership rates highest in Hawaii, lowest in South Carolina, in 2020 (February 2021)
  • Union employment down 2.2 percent in 2020; total wage and salary employment down 6.7 percent (January 2021)
  • Nonunion workers had weekly earnings 81 percent of union members in 2019 (February 2020)
  • Union membership rate 8.6 percent in manufacturing, 23.4 percent in utilities, in 2019 (February 2020)
  • Hawaii and New York had highest union membership rates, the Carolinas the lowest, in 2019 (January 2020)
  • Hawaii and New York had highest union membership rates, the Carolinas the lowest, in 2018 (February 2019)
  • Union membership rate 10.5 percent in 2018, down from 20.1 percent in 1983 (January 2019)
  • Utilities industry has highest union membership rate in private sector in 2017 (February 2018)
  • New York again had highest union membership rate, South Carolina the lowest, in 2017 (January 2018)
  • Union membership rates by state in 2016 (February 2017)
  • Union membership rate 10.7 percent in 2016 (February 2017)
  • Union membership in the United States, Spotlight on Statistics (September 2016)
  • Government, utilities, and transportation and warehousing had highest unionization rates in 2015 (February 2016)
  • Union membership rates by state, 2015 (February 2016)
  • Union membership by state in 2014 (February 2015)
  • Union membership rate in private industry was 6.6 percent in 2014; public sector 35.7 percent (January 2015)
  • Union membership rate 11.3 percent in 2013, the same as in 2012 (January 2014)
  • Union membership declines in 2012 (January 2013)
  • Union membership, 2011 (January 2012)
  • Union membership declines in 2010 (January 2011)
  • Union membership declines in 2009 (February 2010)
  • Union membership by state, 2008 (February 2009)
  • Union membership in 2008 (January 2009)
  • Union members in 2007: a visual essay (PDF)


• Special: C-SPAN program features BLS union membership data (March 2015)

Work at home

These data, which measure persons who work at home as part of their job, come from a special supplemental survey last conducted in May 2004.

• News release: Work at Home
  (PDF) (Archives)

See also Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic for a measure of people who teleworked because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Work experience during the year

Data measure employment and unemployment experience throughout the calendar year. See Tenure for how long people have worked for their current employer.

• News release: Work Experience of the Population (Annual)
  (PDF) (Archives)


• Charts:
  • 8.0 percent of people who worked or looked for work experienced unemployment in 2019 (December 2020)
  • 7.8 percent of people who worked or looked for work experienced unemployment in 2018 (December 2019)
  • 69.5 percent of people who worked in 2017 worked full time, year round (December 2018)
  • 68.8 percent of people who worked in 2016 worked full time, year round (December 2017)
  • 16.9 million people unemployed at some point in 2015, down from 17.7 million in 2014 (December 2016)
  • Unemployment experience in 2014 (December 2015)
  • Full-time work and year-round work both rose in 2013 (December 2014)
  • Employment and unemployment experience of the U.S. population in 2012 (December 2013)
  • Employment and unemployment experience in 2011 (December 2012)
  • Work experience during 2010 (February 2012)
  • Work experience during 2009 (December 2010)
  • Work-experience unemployment rate, 2008 (January 2010)
  • Work experience during 2008 (December 2009)

Work schedules (flexible and shift schedules)

These data, which measure flexible schedules and shift work among full-time wage and salary workers, come from a special supplemental survey last conducted in May 2004.

• News release: Workers on Flexible and Shift Schedules
  (PDF) (Archives)


• Articles:
  • A time to work: recent trends in shift work and flexible schedules (December 2007) (PDF)
  • Flexible schedules and shift work: replacing the '9-to-5' workday (June 2000) (PDF)

Worklife estimates

BLS has not produced worklife estimates since February 1986. This report contains estimates of the number of years individuals would spend in the labor force based on mortality conditions, labor force entry and exit rates, and demographic characteristics.

• Report: Worklife Estimates: Effects of Race and Education (February 1986) (PDF)

Last Modified Date: July 1, 2022

Do skilled workers earn more than unskilled workers?

Why an unskilled worker is usually paid less than a skilled worker?

What is the unemployment rate equal to?

What is the difference between the unemployment rate and the labor force participation rate which one is a better measure and why?