What Is the Unemployment Rate?
The unemployment rate is the percentage of the labor force without a job. It is a lagging indicator, meaning that it generally rises or falls in the wake of changing economic conditions, rather than anticipating them. When the economy is in poor shape and jobs are scarce, the unemployment rate can be expected to rise. When the economy grows at a healthy rate and jobs are relatively plentiful, it can be expected to fall.
unemployment rate is the proportion of the labor force that is not currently employed but could be.
There are six different ways the unemployment rate is calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics using different criteria.
The most comprehensive statistic reported is called the U-6 rate, but the most widely used and cited is the U-3 rate.
The U-3 unemployment rate for April 2023 was 3.4%.
U.S. unemployment data is released on the first Friday of every month.
Understanding the Unemployment Rate
The U.S. unemployment rate is released on the first Friday of every month (with a few exceptions) for the preceding month. The current and past editions of the report are available on the website of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Users can generate and download tables showing any of the labor market measures named above for a specified date range.
