Economy today
US unemployment rate today
The US unemployment rate was 4.2% in September 2026, seasonally adjusted, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey. Latest figure: September 2026. Updated automatically twice a day.
The unemployment rate over the last 12 months
| Month | Unemployment rate |
|---|---|
| September 2026 | 4.2% |
| August 2026 | 4.1% |
| July 2026 | 4.1% |
| June 2026 | 4.2% |
| May 2026 | 4.3% |
| April 2026 | 4.3% |
| March 2026 | 4.3% |
| February 2026 | 4.4% |
| January 2026 | 4.3% |
| December 2025 | 4.4% |
| November 2025 | 4.5% |
| September 2025 | 4.4% |
| August 2025 | 4.3% |
Who counts as unemployed
To be counted as unemployed, a person must have no job, be available to work, and have actively looked for work in the past four weeks (people on temporary layoff waiting to be recalled also count). Someone who wants a job but has stopped looking is not in the labor force, so they are not counted, which is one reason the rate can fall even when hiring is weak.
Questions
What is the current US unemployment rate?
4.2% in September 2026, seasonally adjusted, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is the share of people in the labor force who did not have a job, were available for work and had looked for one in the past four weeks, or were on temporary layoff waiting to be recalled.
How is the unemployment rate calculated?
Divide the number of unemployed people by the labor force, which is everyone employed plus everyone unemployed, and multiply by 100. People who are not looking for work, such as retirees and most full-time students, are not in the labor force at all.
Where does the unemployment rate come from?
The Current Population Survey, a monthly survey of about 60,000 households run by the Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. BLS publishes the rate in its Employment Situation report, usually on the first Friday of the month.