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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: 4.2% in Aug 2024 Historical Data

Change in Unemployment Level: -48,000 in Aug 2024 Historical Data

Change in Employment Level: +168,000 in Aug 2024 Historical Data

Change in Civilian Labor Force Level: +120,000 in Aug 2024 Historical Data

Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate: 62.7% in Aug 2024 Historical Data

Employment-Population Ratio: 60.0% in Aug 2024 Historical Data

Annual Averages

Unemployment Rate: 3.6% for 2023 Historical Data

Unemployment Level: 6,080,000 for 2023 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 rises by 142,000 in August; unemployment rate changes little at 4.2%

09/06/2024

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 142,000 in August, and the unemployment rate changed little at 4.2 percent. Job gains occurred in construction and health care.
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Full-time wage and salary workers median weekly earnings are $1,143 in 2nd quarter 2024

07/17/2024

Median weekly earnings of the nation's 119.9 million full-time wage and salary workers were $1,143 in the second quarter of 2024 (not seasonally adjusted). This was 3.9 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with a gain of 3.2 percent in the CPI-U.
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Next Release

The Employment Situation for September 2024 is scheduled to be released on October 4, 2024, 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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65.7 percent of long-tenured displaced workers were reemployed in January 2024

From January 2021 through December 2023, 2.6 million workers were displaced from jobs they had held for at least 3 years. Known as long-tenured displaced workers, 65.7 percent of these individuals were reemployed when surveyed in January 2024, 16.1 percent were unemployed, and 18.2 percent were not in the labor force. read more »

BLS Reports

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Highlights of women’s earnings in 2023

This report compares data for women and men who usually work full time, with sections focusing on characteristics such as age, race and ethnicity, education, occupation, and more. read more »

Spotlight on Statistics

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Keeping America Moving: Employment in Transportation and Warehousing Industries

In June 2024, the transportation and warehousing industry had an employment level of 6.6 million, accounting for 5 percent of all private-sector jobs. Transportation and warehousing encompasses a wide variety of industries, such as warehousing and storage, truck and air transportation, and school and city buses. This Spotlight examines these industries' differing employment trends, worker characteristics, earnings, fatal and nonfatal occupational injuries, and projected 2032 employment. read more »

Monthly Labor Review

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Unemployment rate inches up during 2023, labor force participation rises

The national unemployment rate remained below 4 percent throughout 2023. The labor force participation rate, at 62.6 percent in the fourth quarter, increased over the year. read more »

Beyond the Numbers

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Resilience through two recessions: veterans in the labor market since 2003

The labor force participation rate and the unemployment rate for veterans are important to guiding policy decisions that help veterans transition to civilian life and improve veterans’ employment outcomes. Recently, the BLS produced seasonally adjusted data for veterans and nonveterans retroactively back to 2003. Using this data, this article analyzes the impact of recessions and the pandemic on these labor market measures for veterans and nonveterans. read more »