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Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

The Current Population Survey (CPS) provides a wealth of information on the nation’s labor force including data on the employed, unemployed, and those not in the labor force. Key CPS measures are the unemployment rate, labor force participation rate, and employment-population ratio.

Explore CPS topics to learn about people’s work and job search activity and various demographic characteristics.

Notices

  • Experimental series accounting for January 2026 population control effects Read More »
  • Questions and answers on the 2025 federal government shutdown impact on the Current Population Survey Read More »

Charts

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Latest Numbers

RSS
Seasonally Adjusted

Unemployment Rate: 4.3% in Apr 2026 Historical Data

Change in Unemployment Level: +134,000 in Apr 2026 Historical Data

Change in Employment Level: -226,000 in Apr 2026 Historical Data

Change in Civilian Labor Force Level: -92,000 in Apr 2026 Historical Data

Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate: 61.8% in Apr 2026 Historical Data

Employment-Population Ratio: 59.1% in Apr 2026 Historical Data

Annual Averages

Unemployment Rate: 4.3% for 2025 Historical Data

Unemployment Level: 7,314,000 for 2025 Historical Data

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Videos

Understanding BLS Unemployment Statistics

Learn how the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates the unemployment rate.

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News Releases

Payroll employment edges up by 115,000 in April; unemployment rate unchanged at 4.3%

05/08/2026

Total nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 115,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.3 percent. Job gains occurred in health care, transportation and warehousing, and retail trade. Federal government employment continued to decline.
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Full-time wage and salary workers median weekly earnings are $1,235 in 1st quarter 2026

04/16/2026

Median weekly earnings of the nation's 121.0 million full-time wage and salary workers were $1,235 in the first quarter of 2026 (not seasonally adjusted). This was 3.4 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with a gain of 2.7 percent in the CPI-U.
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Next Release

The Employment Situation for May 2026 is scheduled to be released on June 5, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

See the CPS release calendar for a schedule of news releases on other topics.

Publications

BLS Reports

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Women in the labor force, 2024: occupation employment profiles of women and men by age

This report presents historical and recent labor force data for women and men from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a national monthly sample survey of approximately 60,000 households, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. read more »

The Economics Daily

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27.1 percent of people with a work-limiting difficulty participated in the labor force in July 2024

In July 2024, 30.7 million people ages 16 to 75 had a work-limiting health condition or difficulty, representing 12.4 percent of the civilian noninstitutional population in this age group. Of those with a work-limiting health condition or difficulty, about one-half had a disability (15.8 million). read more »

Beyond the Numbers

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Golden years: older Americans at work and play

This Beyond the Numbers article uses data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) to provide insights into the labor force participation and activities of older individuals. read more »

Monthly Labor Review

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A comparison of hours of work at home estimates between the Current Population Survey and the American Time Use Survey

This article analyzes the accuracy of telework estimates in the Current Population Survey by comparing these estimates with responses from the American Time Use Survey from October 2022 to December 2023. read more »

Spotlight on Statistics

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Unemployment Duration in the Pandemic: A Look at Jobseeker Demographics

During the pandemic, median unemployment duration was highest in 2021, with a duration of 16.5 weeks nationwide. However, unemployment duration varied by state, with durations ranging from 4.9 weeks (South Dakota) to 30.1 weeks (Nevada) in 2021. In 2023, when the national median unemployment duration was 8.9 weeks, state figures ranged from 4.3 weeks (Nebraska and South Dakota) to 17.5 weeks (the District of Columbia). read more »