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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.

Charts

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Latest Numbers

RSS
Seasonally Adjusted

Unemployment Rate: 4.4% in Sep 2025 Historical Data

Change in Unemployment Level: +219,000 in Sep 2025 Historical Data

Change in Employment Level: +251,000 in Sep 2025 Historical Data

Change in Civilian Labor Force Level: +470,000 in Sep 2025 Historical Data

Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate: 62.4% in Sep 2025 Historical Data

Employment-Population Ratio: 59.7% in Sep 2025 Historical Data

Annual Averages

Unemployment Rate: 4.0% for 2024 Historical Data

Unemployment Level: 6,761,000 for 2024 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 119,000 in September; unemployment rate changes little at 4.4%

11/20/2025

Total nonfarm payroll employment edged up in September (+119,000), and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.4 percent. Employment trended up in health care, food services and drinking places, and social assistance. Transportation and warehousing and federal government lost jobs.
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Full-time wage and salary workers median weekly earnings are $1,196 in 2nd quarter 2025

07/22/2025

Median weekly earnings of the nation's 121.5 million full-time wage and salary workers were $1,196 in the second quarter of 2025 (not seasonally adjusted). This was 4.6 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with a gain of 2.4 percent in the CPI-U.
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Next Release

The Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers for third quarter 2025 is scheduled to be released on December 4, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
The Employment Situation for November 2025 is scheduled to be released on December 16, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

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

Publications

The Economics Daily

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23.7 million youth were working or actively looking for work in July 2025

The youth labor force (16- to 24-year-olds working or actively looking for work) grows sharply between April and July each year. During these months, large numbers of high school and college students search for or take summer jobs, and many graduates enter the labor market to look for or begin permanent employment. In 2025, the youth labor force grew by 1.9 million, or 8.9 percent, from April (21.7 million) to July (23.7 million). read more »

BLS Reports

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Characteristics of minimum wage workers, 2024

This report presents highlights and statistical tables describing workers who earned at or below the federal minimum wage in 2024. The data are obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a national monthly survey of approximately 60,000 eligible households. 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 »