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Unemployment rate declines 0.2 percentage point to 5.6 percent in December 2014

January 13, 2015

In December 2014, the unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 5.6 percent. Over the year, the unemployment rate decreased by 1.1 percentage points.

Labor force participation rate, employment-population ratio, and unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, January 2005–December 2014
Month Labor force participation rate Employment-population ratio Unemployment rate

Jan 2005

65.8 62.4 5.3

Feb 2005

65.9 62.4 5.4

Mar 2005

65.9 62.4 5.2

Apr 2005

66.1 62.7 5.2

May 2005

66.1 62.8 5.1

Jun 2005

66.1 62.7 5.0

Jul 2005

66.1 62.8 5.0

Aug 2005

66.2 62.9 4.9

Sep 2005

66.1 62.8 5.0

Oct 2005

66.1 62.8 5.0

Nov 2005

66.0 62.7 5.0

Dec 2005

66.0 62.8 4.9

Jan 2006

66.0 62.9 4.7

Feb 2006

66.1 63.0 4.8

Mar 2006

66.2 63.1 4.7

Apr 2006

66.1 63.0 4.7

May 2006

66.1 63.1 4.6

Jun 2006

66.2 63.1 4.6

Jul 2006

66.1 63.0 4.7

Aug 2006

66.2 63.1 4.7

Sep 2006

66.1 63.1 4.5

Oct 2006

66.2 63.3 4.4

Nov 2006

66.3 63.3 4.5

Dec 2006

66.4 63.4 4.4

Jan 2007

66.4 63.3 4.6

Feb 2007

66.3 63.3 4.5

Mar 2007

66.2 63.3 4.4

Apr 2007

65.9 63.0 4.5

May 2007

66.0 63.0 4.4

Jun 2007

66.0 63.0 4.6

Jul 2007

66.0 62.9 4.7

Aug 2007

65.8 62.7 4.6

Sep 2007

66.0 62.9 4.7

Oct 2007

65.8 62.7 4.7

Nov 2007

66.0 62.9 4.7

Dec 2007

66.0 62.7 5.0

Jan 2008

66.2 62.9 5.0

Feb 2008

66.0 62.8 4.9

Mar 2008

66.1 62.7 5.1

Apr 2008

65.9 62.7 5.0

May 2008

66.1 62.5 5.4

Jun 2008

66.1 62.4 5.6

Jul 2008

66.1 62.2 5.8

Aug 2008

66.1 62.0 6.1

Sep 2008

66.0 61.9 6.1

Oct 2008

66.0 61.7 6.5

Nov 2008

65.9 61.4 6.8

Dec 2008

65.8 61.0 7.3

Jan 2009

65.7 60.6 7.8

Feb 2009

65.8 60.3 8.3

Mar 2009

65.6 59.9 8.7

Apr 2009

65.7 59.8 9.0

May 2009

65.7 59.6 9.4

Jun 2009

65.7 59.4 9.5

Jul 2009

65.5 59.3 9.5

Aug 2009

65.4 59.1 9.6

Sep 2009

65.1 58.7 9.8

Oct 2009

65.0 58.5 10.0

Nov 2009

65.0 58.6 9.9

Dec 2009

64.6 58.3 9.9

Jan 2010

64.8 58.5 9.8

Feb 2010

64.9 58.5 9.8

Mar 2010

64.9 58.5 9.9

Apr 2010

65.2 58.7 9.9

May 2010

64.9 58.6 9.6

Jun 2010

64.6 58.5 9.4

Jul 2010

64.6 58.5 9.4

Aug 2010

64.7 58.6 9.5

Sep 2010

64.6 58.5 9.5

Oct 2010

64.4 58.3 9.4

Nov 2010

64.6 58.2 9.8

Dec 2010

64.3 58.3 9.3

Jan 2011

64.2 58.3 9.2

Feb 2011

64.2 58.4 9.0

Mar 2011

64.2 58.4 9.0

Apr 2011

64.2 58.4 9.1

May 2011

64.1 58.4 9.0

Jun 2011

64.0 58.2 9.1

Jul 2011

64.0 58.2 9.0

Aug 2011

64.1 58.3 9.0

Sep 2011

64.2 58.4 9.0

Oct 2011

64.1 58.4 8.8

Nov 2011

64.1 58.6 8.6

Dec 2011

64.0 58.6 8.5

Jan 2012

63.7 58.5 8.3

Feb 2012

63.8 58.5 8.3

Mar 2012

63.8 58.6 8.2

Apr 2012

63.7 58.5 8.2

May 2012

63.8 58.5 8.2

Jun 2012

63.8 58.6 8.2

Jul 2012

63.7 58.5 8.2

Aug 2012

63.5 58.4 8.0

Sep 2012

63.6 58.6 7.8

Oct 2012

63.7 58.8 7.8

Nov 2012

63.6 58.7 7.7

Dec 2012

63.7 58.6 7.9

Jan 2013

63.7 58.6 8.0

Feb 2013

63.5 58.6 7.7

Mar 2013

63.3 58.5 7.5

Apr 2013

63.4 58.6 7.6

May 2013

63.4 58.6 7.5

Jun 2013

63.4 58.7 7.5

Jul 2013

63.3 58.7 7.3

Aug 2013

63.2 58.7 7.2

Sep 2013

63.2 58.6 7.2

Oct 2013

62.8 58.2 7.2

Nov 2013

63.0 58.6 7.0

Dec 2013

62.8 58.6 6.7

Jan 2014

63.0 58.8 6.6

Feb 2014

63.0 58.8 6.7

Mar 2014

63.2 59.0 6.6

Apr 2014

62.8 58.9 6.2

May 2014

62.8 58.9 6.3

Jun 2014

62.8 59.0 6.1

Jul 2014

62.9 59.0 6.2

Aug 2014

62.9 59.0 6.1

Sep 2014

62.7 59.0 5.9

Oct 2014

62.8 59.2 5.7

Nov 2014

62.9 59.2 5.8

Dec 2014

62.7 59.2 5.6

The civilian labor force participation rate edged down by 0.2 percentage point to 62.7 percent in December. Since April, the participation rate has stayed between 62.7 and 62.9 percent. 

In December, the employment–population ratio—the employed as a percentage of the population—was 59.2 percent for the third straight month. The employment–population ratio was up by 0.6 percentage point over the year.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see "The Employment Situation — December 2014" (HTML) (PDF). For more charts featuring Current Population Survey data, see Charting the labor market: Data from the Current Population Survey (PDF).

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Unemployment rate declines 0.2 percentage point to 5.6 percent in December 2014 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/unemployment-rate-declines-in-december-2014.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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