Duration of unemployment in April 2016
May 10, 2016
In April 2016, the unemployment rate held at 5.0 percent, and the number of unemployed people was little changed at 7.9 million. During the same month, 2.5 million people were unemployed for less than five weeks, accounting for 31.6 percent of all unemployed people. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) declined by 150,000 to 2.1 million in April. These individuals accounted for 25.7 percent of the unemployed. On average, unemployed people were jobless for 27.7 weeks in April 2016.
Duration of unemployment, percent distribution, January 2006–April 2016
Month
Less than 5 weeks
5 to 14 weeks
15 to 26 weeks
27 weeks and over
Jan 2006
36.1%
31.4%
15.7%
16.7%
Feb 2006
35.7
29.0
16.6
18.7
Mar 2006
37.8
28.4
15.1
18.6
Apr 2006
37.2
29.9
14.3
18.6
May 2006
36.2
31.1
13.8
18.9
Jun 2006
39.2
30.0
14.2
16.6
Jul 2006
38.1
29.8
13.8
18.3
Aug 2006
36.4
31.5
13.8
18.3
Sep 2006
37.8
29.8
14.3
18.1
Oct 2006
38.6
31.0
14.5
15.9
Nov 2006
36.5
32.1
14.9
16.4
Dec 2006
38.6
30.4
14.7
16.2
Jan 2007
36.7
32.5
14.5
16.3
Feb 2007
37.0
31.2
13.8
18.0
Mar 2007
34.4
31.9
15.1
18.6
Apr 2007
35.5
31.5
15.5
17.4
May 2007
35.8
31.7
16.0
16.5
Jun 2007
36.6
30.6
16.3
16.4
Jul 2007
35.4
31.2
15.2
18.3
Aug 2007
36.8
30.4
15.3
17.5
Sep 2007
35.5
31.8
15.1
17.5
Oct 2007
34.6
34.1
13.6
17.7
Nov 2007
36.5
30.9
13.7
18.9
Dec 2007
35.8
31.3
15.5
17.4
Jan 2008
34.1
32.1
15.4
18.5
Feb 2008
35.5
31.7
14.9
17.8
Mar 2008
36.0
32.3
14.9
16.9
Apr 2008
32.2
33.2
17.0
17.7
May 2008
38.4
29.0
14.3
18.3
Jun 2008
31.7
34.7
15.4
18.2
Jul 2008
32.4
32.2
16.5
18.9
Aug 2008
34.5
29.2
16.5
19.8
Sep 2008
29.9
31.9
16.8
21.3
Oct 2008
31.0
29.9
16.7
22.3
Nov 2008
31.7
31.0
16.2
21.1
Dec 2008
28.8
31.0
17.1
23.1
Jan 2009
29.5
30.6
17.3
22.6
Feb 2009
26.9
30.7
19.1
23.4
Mar 2009
25.7
30.6
19.5
24.2
Apr 2009
24.1
29.9
19.0
27.1
May 2009
22.0
30.3
20.7
27.0
Jun 2009
20.8
27.0
23.2
29.0
Jul 2009
21.7
24.2
20.2
34.0
Aug 2009
20.0
26.7
19.0
34.3
Sep 2009
18.9
25.1
19.4
36.6
Oct 2009
20.9
23.0
19.5
36.6
Nov 2009
18.7
23.0
18.9
39.3
Dec 2009
19.0
22.8
17.9
40.4
Jan 2010
19.2
22.3
16.9
41.6
Feb 2010
18.6
22.4
18.5
40.5
Mar 2010
18.3
21.7
16.8
43.2
Apr 2010
18.2
20.7
15.6
45.5
May 2010
18.7
21.1
15.3
44.9
Jun 2010
18.2
21.4
15.5
44.9
Jul 2010
19.4
20.5
15.2
44.9
Aug 2010
18.3
24.2
14.8
42.8
Sep 2010
19.3
22.7
15.7
42.3
Oct 2010
18.2
22.9
16.3
42.6
Nov 2010
19.5
22.2
15.9
42.4
Dec 2010
18.7
22.0
14.7
44.6
Jan 2011
19.0
21.5
15.7
43.8
Feb 2011
17.9
22.7
16.6
42.8
Mar 2011
18.5
21.8
15.1
44.6
Apr 2011
20.2
21.7
15.2
43.0
May 2011
19.4
21.1
14.9
44.7
Jun 2011
20.9
21.2
13.3
44.6
Jul 2011
19.2
21.3
14.4
45.1
Aug 2011
19.1
21.5
15.8
43.6
Sep 2011
19.7
20.7
14.4
45.2
Oct 2011
19.4
23.7
14.3
42.6
Nov 2011
19.4
22.1
15.2
43.2
Dec 2011
20.4
21.9
15.0
42.7
Jan 2012
19.3
22.7
15.2
42.8
Feb 2012
20.4
22.3
15.9
41.3
Mar 2012
21.3
22.0
15.3
41.3
Apr 2012
20.9
22.8
15.5
40.7
May 2012
20.2
23.8
13.4
42.6
Jun 2012
21.5
21.9
14.3
42.3
Jul 2012
21.1
23.7
13.9
41.3
Aug 2012
22.4
22.5
14.7
40.4
Sep 2012
20.9
23.2
15.4
40.5
Oct 2012
21.5
23.3
14.6
40.7
Nov 2012
21.9
23.2
14.8
40.1
Dec 2012
22.4
23.6
15.3
38.8
Jan 2013
22.4
25.2
14.9
37.5
Feb 2013
22.8
23.6
14.4
39.2
Mar 2013
21.2
24.4
15.4
39.0
Apr 2013
21.2
24.6
16.9
37.2
May 2013
22.9
22.7
16.9
37.5
Jun 2013
22.7
24.0
16.1
37.2
Jul 2013
21.9
24.5
15.7
37.9
Aug 2013
22.3
24.1
15.2
38.4
Sep 2013
23.2
23.7
16.2
36.9
Oct 2013
25.0
23.4
15.8
35.7
Nov 2013
22.4
23.9
15.9
37.8
Dec 2013
22.4
24.4
16.0
37.2
Jan 2014
24.2
24.0
16.5
35.3
Feb 2014
23.1
25.2
15.2
36.5
Mar 2014
23.6
24.8
16.2
35.4
Apr 2014
24.9
24.2
16.0
34.9
May 2014
26.3
24.4
14.9
34.5
Jun 2014
25.7
25.4
15.9
32.9
Jul 2014
26.5
25.4
14.8
33.3
Aug 2014
27.8
25.3
15.7
31.2
Sep 2014
25.6
27.0
15.5
31.9
Oct 2014
27.2
25.3
15.7
31.8
Nov 2014
27.4
26.1
15.4
31.1
Dec 2014
27.2
26.5
14.5
31.8
Jan 2015
27.0
26.3
15.5
31.3
Feb 2015
28.0
25.9
15.2
30.8
Mar 2015
28.9
27.0
14.6
29.5
Apr 2015
31.1
26.8
13.3
28.7
May 2015
27.6
28.9
14.8
28.7
Jun 2015
28.6
28.6
16.9
25.9
Jul 2015
30.5
27.8
14.6
27.1
Aug 2015
26.6
29.8
15.9
27.7
Sep 2015
30.0
27.9
15.5
26.6
Oct 2015
29.3
28.7
15.4
26.7
Nov 2015
30.2
28.2
15.9
25.7
Dec 2015
30.4
27.7
15.6
26.3
Jan 2016
29.0
29.4
14.6
26.9
Feb 2016
29.3
28.6
14.5
27.7
Mar 2016
30.1
27.5
14.7
27.6
Apr 2016
31.6
26.5
16.2
25.7
These data are from the Current Population Survey . To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — April 2016" (HTML ) (PDF ). For more charts featuring Current Population Survey data, see Charts related to the latest "The Employment Situation" news release .
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