Whether people are workingBreakdown
The Fed has two jobs. This is the second one.
| Date | Unemployment rate |
|---|---|
| 2016-01 | 0.048 |
| 2016-02 | 0.049 |
| 2016-03 | 0.05 |
| 2016-04 | 0.051 |
| 2016-05 | 0.048 |
| 2016-06 | 0.049 |
| 2016-07 | 0.048 |
| 2016-08 | 0.049 |
| 2016-09 | 0.05 |
| 2016-10 | 0.049 |
| 2016-11 | 0.047 |
| 2016-12 | 0.047 |
| 2017-01 | 0.047 |
| 2017-02 | 0.046 |
| 2017-03 | 0.044 |
| 2017-04 | 0.044 |
| 2017-05 | 0.044 |
| 2017-06 | 0.043 |
| 2017-07 | 0.043 |
| 2017-08 | 0.044 |
| 2017-09 | 0.043 |
| 2017-10 | 0.042 |
| 2017-11 | 0.042 |
| 2017-12 | 0.041 |
| 2018-01 | 0.04 |
| 2018-02 | 0.041 |
| 2018-03 | 0.04 |
| 2018-04 | 0.04 |
| 2018-05 | 0.038 |
| 2018-06 | 0.04 |
| 2018-07 | 0.038 |
| 2018-08 | 0.038 |
| 2018-09 | 0.037 |
| 2018-10 | 0.038 |
| 2018-11 | 0.038 |
| 2018-12 | 0.039 |
| 2019-01 | 0.04 |
| 2019-02 | 0.038 |
| 2019-03 | 0.038 |
| 2019-04 | 0.037 |
| 2019-05 | 0.036 |
| 2019-06 | 0.036 |
| 2019-07 | 0.037 |
| 2019-08 | 0.036 |
| 2019-09 | 0.035 |
| 2019-10 | 0.036 |
| 2019-11 | 0.036 |
| 2019-12 | 0.036 |
| 2020-01 | 0.036 |
| 2020-02 | 0.035 |
| 2020-03 | 0.044 |
| 2020-04 | 0.148 |
| 2020-05 | 0.132 |
| 2020-06 | 0.11 |
| 2020-07 | 0.102 |
| 2020-08 | 0.084 |
| 2020-09 | 0.078 |
| 2020-10 | 0.069 |
| 2020-11 | 0.067 |
| 2020-12 | 0.067 |
| 2021-01 | 0.064 |
| 2021-02 | 0.062 |
| 2021-03 | 0.061 |
| 2021-04 | 0.061 |
| 2021-05 | 0.058 |
| 2021-06 | 0.059 |
| 2021-07 | 0.054 |
| 2021-08 | 0.051 |
| 2021-09 | 0.047 |
| 2021-10 | 0.045 |
| 2021-11 | 0.041 |
| 2021-12 | 0.039 |
| 2022-01 | 0.04 |
| 2022-02 | 0.039 |
| 2022-03 | 0.037 |
| 2022-04 | 0.037 |
| 2022-05 | 0.036 |
| 2022-06 | 0.036 |
| 2022-07 | 0.035 |
| 2022-08 | 0.036 |
| 2022-09 | 0.035 |
| 2022-10 | 0.036 |
| 2022-11 | 0.036 |
| 2022-12 | 0.035 |
| 2023-01 | 0.035 |
| 2023-02 | 0.036 |
| 2023-03 | 0.035 |
| 2023-04 | 0.034 |
| 2023-05 | 0.036 |
| 2023-06 | 0.036 |
| 2023-07 | 0.035 |
| 2023-08 | 0.037 |
| 2023-09 | 0.037 |
| 2023-10 | 0.039 |
| 2023-11 | 0.037 |
| 2023-12 | 0.038 |
| 2024-01 | 0.037 |
| 2024-02 | 0.039 |
| 2024-03 | 0.039 |
| 2024-04 | 0.039 |
| 2024-05 | 0.039 |
| 2024-06 | 0.041 |
| 2024-07 | 0.042 |
| 2024-08 | 0.042 |
| 2024-09 | 0.041 |
| 2024-10 | 0.041 |
| 2024-11 | 0.042 |
| 2024-12 | 0.041 |
| 2025-01 | 0.04 |
| 2025-02 | 0.042 |
| 2025-03 | 0.042 |
| 2025-04 | 0.042 |
| 2025-05 | 0.043 |
| 2025-06 | 0.041 |
| 2025-07 | 0.043 |
| 2025-08 | 0.043 |
| 2025-09 | 0.044 |
| 2025-11 | 0.045 |
| 2025-12 | 0.044 |
| 2026-01 | 0.043 |
| 2026-02 | 0.044 |
| 2026-03 | 0.043 |
| 2026-04 | 0.043 |
| 2026-05 | 0.043 |
| 2026-06 | 0.042 |
| 2026-07 | 0.041 |
| 2026-08 | 0.041 |
→The unemployment rate was 4.1% in August 2026. The Federal Reserve is charged with both stable prices and maximum employment, and when the two point in opposite directions this is usually the one that decides the next move.
Source: FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis · as at 2026-08
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics household survey, which asks people whether they are working and whether they are looking. Somebody who has stopped looking is not counted as unemployed, so the rate can fall because people gave up. There is no October 2025 reading: the shutdown stopped the survey, and an unasked question has no answer to publish.
Where this comes from
- Source: FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (official)
- Which in turn reads: US federal statistical agencies
- How current: As at 2026-08 · checked every 35 days
- What we hold: 127 observations, from 2016-01 to 2026-08
- Attribution: Series retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Every series read here is produced by a US government agency and is in the public domain; FRED's licensed third-party series are deliberately not read.