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1.6 million people unemployed 27 weeks or more in October 2017, 24.8 percent of all unemployed

November 08, 2017

The number of unemployed people decreased by 281,000 to 6.5 million in October 2017, and the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1 percent. Since January, the number of unemployed has decreased by 1.1 million, and the unemployment rate has declined by 0.7 percentage point. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was 1.6 million in October and accounted for 24.8 percent of the unemployed.

 

 

Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment, October 1997 to October 2017, seasonally adjusted
Month Less than 5 weeks 5–14 weeks 15–26 weeks 27 weeks and over

Oct 1997

2,566,000 1,966,000 916,000 1,034,000

Nov 1997

2,479,000 2,027,000 879,000 938,000

Dec 1997

2,534,000 1,937,000 917,000 984,000

Jan 1998

2,587,000 1,929,000 838,000 995,000

Feb 1998

2,572,000 1,918,000 852,000 957,000

Mar 1998

2,789,000 1,972,000 854,000 918,000

Apr 1998

2,628,000 1,918,000 594,000 883,000

May 1998

2,641,000 1,950,000 651,000 839,000

Jun 1998

2,546,000 2,079,000 824,000 789,000

Jul 1998

2,593,000 2,005,000 755,000 821,000

Aug 1998

2,597,000 1,963,000 808,000 818,000

Sep 1998

2,624,000 1,985,000 772,000 916,000

Oct 1998

2,823,000 1,909,000 723,000 858,000

Nov 1998

2,510,000 1,998,000 715,000 875,000

Dec 1998

2,587,000 1,806,000 756,000 803,000

Jan 1999

2,462,000 1,993,000 775,000 714,000

Feb 1999

2,566,000 1,946,000 749,000 801,000

Mar 1999

2,473,000 1,905,000 758,000 714,000

Apr 1999

2,781,000 1,848,000 782,000 698,000

May 1999

2,511,000 1,789,000 787,000 718,000

Jun 1999

2,521,000 1,773,000 812,000 812,000

Jul 1999

2,643,000 1,783,000 781,000 732,000

Aug 1999

2,546,000 1,824,000 748,000 706,000

Sep 1999

2,611,000 1,835,000 739,000 709,000

Oct 1999

2,536,000 1,847,000 713,000 724,000

Nov 1999

2,562,000 1,775,000 697,000 682,000

Dec 1999

2,642,000 1,614,000 696,000 680,000

Jan 2000

2,541,000 1,749,000 659,000 721,000

Feb 2000

2,604,000 1,912,000 671,000 629,000

Mar 2000

2,780,000 1,781,000 666,000 646,000

Apr 2000

2,510,000 1,845,000 662,000 599,000

May 2000

2,564,000 1,911,000 683,000 643,000

Jun 2000

2,579,000 1,753,000 616,000 627,000

Jul 2000

2,498,000 1,824,000 645,000 698,000

Aug 2000

2,550,000 1,893,000 685,000 709,000

Sep 2000

2,571,000 1,746,000 644,000 646,000

Oct 2000

2,497,000 1,724,000 710,000 627,000

Nov 2000

2,512,000 1,790,000 723,000 593,000

Dec 2000

2,477,000 1,825,000 687,000 642,000

Jan 2001

2,648,000 1,956,000 696,000 676,000

Feb 2001

2,851,000 1,764,000 777,000 714,000

Mar 2001

2,681,000 2,059,000 825,000 696,000

Apr 2001

2,972,000 1,990,000 787,000 712,000

May 2001

2,701,000 2,045,000 877,000 624,000

Jun 2001

2,808,000 2,025,000 822,000 710,000

Jul 2001

2,642,000 2,187,000 951,000 702,000

Aug 2001

2,966,000 2,187,000 1,004,000 857,000

Sep 2001

2,837,000 2,350,000 1,131,000 819,000

Oct 2001

3,111,000 2,531,000 1,173,000 909,000

Nov 2001

3,090,000 2,566,000 1,213,000 1,106,000

Dec 2001

3,037,000 2,797,000 1,318,000 1,126,000

Jan 2002

3,044,000 2,606,000 1,375,000 1,203,000

Feb 2002

2,984,000 2,577,000 1,394,000 1,214,000

Mar 2002

3,074,000 2,563,000 1,390,000 1,330,000

Apr 2002

2,932,000 2,872,000 1,395,000 1,457,000

May 2002

2,843,000 2,584,000 1,393,000 1,574,000

Jun 2002

2,711,000 2,654,000 1,382,000 1,641,000

Jul 2002

2,891,000 2,467,000 1,382,000 1,584,000

Aug 2002

2,927,000 2,525,000 1,313,000 1,573,000

Sep 2002

2,772,000 2,526,000 1,391,000 1,580,000

Oct 2002

2,765,000 2,512,000 1,388,000 1,653,000

Nov 2002

2,950,000 2,505,000 1,319,000 1,743,000

Dec 2002

2,838,000 2,589,000 1,347,000 1,924,000

Jan 2003

2,856,000 2,582,000 1,405,000 1,760,000

Feb 2003

2,798,000 2,611,000 1,297,000 1,864,000

Mar 2003

2,831,000 2,567,000 1,363,000 1,798,000

Apr 2003

2,794,000 2,661,000 1,421,000 1,927,000

May 2003

2,988,000 2,631,000 1,389,000 1,929,000

Jun 2003

2,906,000 2,745,000 1,453,000 2,100,000

Jul 2003

2,720,000 2,616,000 1,661,000 1,972,000

Aug 2003

2,801,000 2,625,000 1,561,000 1,995,000

Sep 2003

2,704,000 2,775,000 1,472,000 2,014,000

Oct 2003

2,710,000 2,593,000 1,492,000 1,959,000

Nov 2003

2,656,000 2,509,000 1,414,000 2,006,000

Dec 2003

2,554,000 2,455,000 1,435,000 1,931,000

Jan 2004

2,685,000 2,369,000 1,453,000 1,911,000

Feb 2004

2,425,000 2,436,000 1,392,000 1,856,000

Mar 2004

2,637,000 2,434,000 1,331,000 1,983,000

Apr 2004

2,780,000 2,400,000 1,166,000 1,805,000

May 2004

2,723,000 2,378,000 1,304,000 1,799,000

Jun 2004

2,677,000 2,387,000 1,284,000 1,847,000

Jul 2004

2,820,000 2,384,000 1,237,000 1,681,000

Aug 2004

2,660,000 2,563,000 1,206,000 1,640,000

Sep 2004

2,758,000 2,276,000 1,209,000 1,702,000

Oct 2004

2,732,000 2,303,000 1,304,000 1,737,000

Nov 2004

2,638,000 2,339,000 1,258,000 1,702,000

Dec 2004

2,768,000 2,268,000 1,274,000 1,653,000

Jan 2005

2,635,000 2,298,000 1,203,000 1,648,000

Feb 2005

2,749,000 2,345,000 1,268,000 1,628,000

Mar 2005

2,483,000 2,328,000 1,157,000 1,660,000

Apr 2005

2,688,000 2,289,000 1,069,000 1,609,000

May 2005

2,754,000 2,231,000 1,145,000 1,538,000

Jun 2005

2,659,000 2,361,000 1,030,000 1,375,000

Jul 2005

2,568,000 2,368,000 1,068,000 1,380,000

Aug 2005

2,570,000 2,304,000 1,161,000 1,407,000

Sep 2005

2,763,000 2,294,000 1,098,000 1,439,000

Oct 2005

2,719,000 2,296,000 1,070,000 1,422,000

Nov 2005

2,823,000 2,282,000 1,116,000 1,370,000

Dec 2005

2,588,000 2,249,000 1,073,000 1,356,000

Jan 2006

2,527,000 2,194,000 1,100,000 1,170,000

Feb 2006

2,577,000 2,088,000 1,195,000 1,350,000

Mar 2006

2,659,000 1,999,000 1,064,000 1,309,000

Apr 2006

2,665,000 2,142,000 1,022,000 1,331,000

May 2006

2,545,000 2,189,000 969,000 1,333,000

Jun 2006

2,705,000 2,076,000 982,000 1,145,000

Jul 2006

2,721,000 2,126,000 986,000 1,304,000

Aug 2006

2,603,000 2,246,000 987,000 1,306,000

Sep 2006

2,608,000 2,053,000 986,000 1,245,000

Oct 2006

2,616,000 2,103,000 984,000 1,078,000

Nov 2006

2,511,000 2,212,000 1,028,000 1,131,000

Dec 2006

2,596,000 2,047,000 990,000 1,093,000

Jan 2007

2,561,000 2,267,000 1,015,000 1,141,000

Feb 2007

2,574,000 2,168,000 962,000 1,249,000

Mar 2007

2,307,000 2,138,000 1,010,000 1,245,000

Apr 2007

2,456,000 2,178,000 1,075,000 1,206,000

May 2007

2,464,000 2,183,000 1,100,000 1,132,000

Jun 2007

2,551,000 2,134,000 1,138,000 1,143,000

Jul 2007

2,502,000 2,203,000 1,073,000 1,291,000

Aug 2007

2,614,000 2,156,000 1,086,000 1,246,000

Sep 2007

2,557,000 2,292,000 1,091,000 1,264,000

Oct 2007

2,545,000 2,502,000 1,003,000 1,298,000

Nov 2007

2,645,000 2,241,000 992,000 1,374,000

Dec 2007

2,718,000 2,376,000 1,177,000 1,324,000

Jan 2008

2,554,000 2,406,000 1,152,000 1,388,000

Feb 2008

2,653,000 2,370,000 1,116,000 1,329,000

Mar 2008

2,823,000 2,537,000 1,168,000 1,323,000

Apr 2008

2,493,000 2,574,000 1,314,000 1,372,000

May 2008

3,278,000 2,476,000 1,219,000 1,561,000

Jun 2008

2,753,000 3,016,000 1,337,000 1,576,000

Jul 2008

2,854,000 2,833,000 1,450,000 1,664,000

Aug 2008

3,256,000 2,758,000 1,554,000 1,866,000

Sep 2008

2,848,000 3,035,000 1,599,000 2,027,000

Oct 2008

3,170,000 3,055,000 1,710,000 2,280,000

Nov 2008

3,335,000 3,260,000 1,704,000 2,219,000

Dec 2008

3,255,000 3,498,000 1,936,000 2,610,000

Jan 2009

3,524,000 3,662,000 2,065,000 2,699,000

Feb 2009

3,450,000 3,936,000 2,456,000 2,999,000

Mar 2009

3,465,000 4,122,000 2,625,000 3,260,000

Apr 2009

3,338,000 4,138,000 2,634,000 3,752,000

May 2009

3,246,000 4,458,000 3,049,000 3,973,000

Jun 2009

3,114,000 4,052,000 3,488,000 4,349,000

Jul 2009

3,137,000 3,505,000 2,923,000 4,917,000

Aug 2009

2,940,000 3,927,000 2,791,000 5,037,000

Sep 2009

2,841,000 3,775,000 2,908,000 5,494,000

Oct 2009

3,223,000 3,552,000 3,006,000 5,643,000

Nov 2009

2,816,000 3,457,000 2,847,000 5,908,000

Dec 2009

2,879,000 3,457,000 2,712,000 6,122,000

Jan 2010

2,921,000 3,390,000 2,574,000 6,319,000

Feb 2010

2,807,000 3,390,000 2,793,000 6,129,000

Mar 2010

2,769,000 3,294,000 2,542,000 6,545,000

Apr 2010

2,725,000 3,086,000 2,330,000 6,800,000

May 2010

2,773,000 3,127,000 2,260,000 6,638,000

Jun 2010

2,683,000 3,159,000 2,284,000 6,623,000

Jul 2010

2,806,000 2,972,000 2,208,000 6,506,000

Aug 2010

2,671,000 3,534,000 2,162,000 6,259,000

Sep 2010

2,819,000 3,308,000 2,291,000 6,163,000

Oct 2010

2,655,000 3,345,000 2,387,000 6,227,000

Nov 2010

2,912,000 3,321,000 2,370,000 6,326,000

Dec 2010

2,693,000 3,169,000 2,120,000 6,429,000

Jan 2011

2,686,000 3,033,000 2,218,000 6,175,000

Feb 2011

2,469,000 3,118,000 2,284,000 5,892,000

Mar 2011

2,535,000 2,980,000 2,061,000 6,105,000

Apr 2011

2,787,000 2,987,000 2,090,000 5,925,000

May 2011

2,668,000 2,903,000 2,052,000 6,153,000

Jun 2011

2,933,000 2,987,000 1,871,000 6,271,000

Jul 2011

2,632,000 2,931,000 1,982,000 6,195,000

Aug 2011

2,650,000 2,989,000 2,199,000 6,048,000

Sep 2011

2,754,000 2,881,000 2,012,000 6,304,000

Oct 2011

2,668,000 3,250,000 1,964,000 5,838,000

Nov 2011

2,556,000 2,913,000 2,009,000 5,698,000

Dec 2011

2,678,000 2,873,000 1,959,000 5,586,000

Jan 2012

2,474,000 2,908,000 1,957,000 5,476,000

Feb 2012

2,610,000 2,848,000 2,051,000 5,242,000

Mar 2012

2,708,000 2,788,000 1,940,000 5,236,000

Apr 2012

2,624,000 2,878,000 1,940,000 5,132,000

May 2012

2,550,000 3,006,000 1,690,000 5,401,000

Jun 2012

2,747,000 2,806,000 1,817,000 5,409,000

Jul 2012

2,662,000 2,984,000 1,773,000 5,210,000

Aug 2012

2,784,000 2,811,000 1,846,000 5,042,000

Sep 2012

2,538,000 2,819,000 1,863,000 4,911,000

Oct 2012

2,635,000 2,859,000 1,796,000 4,988,000

Nov 2012

2,620,000 2,776,000 1,745,000 4,805,000

Dec 2012

2,756,000 2,901,000 1,861,000 4,768,000

Jan 2013

2,784,000 3,115,000 1,879,000 4,654,000

Feb 2013

2,718,000 2,801,000 1,732,000 4,635,000

Mar 2013

2,462,000 2,828,000 1,778,000 4,514,000

Apr 2013

2,491,000 2,908,000 1,965,000 4,380,000

May 2013

2,664,000 2,627,000 1,954,000 4,361,000

Jun 2013

2,679,000 2,851,000 1,901,000 4,405,000

Jul 2013

2,478,000 2,772,000 1,783,000 4,290,000

Aug 2013

2,480,000 2,689,000 1,722,000 4,306,000

Sep 2013

2,610,000 2,680,000 1,826,000 4,161,000

Oct 2013

2,822,000 2,639,000 1,789,000 4,018,000

Nov 2013

2,410,000 2,587,000 1,691,000 4,086,000

Dec 2013

2,332,000 2,548,000 1,656,000 3,874,000

Jan 2014

2,489,000 2,431,000 1,707,000 3,601,000

Feb 2014

2,399,000 2,599,000 1,590,000 3,750,000

Mar 2014

2,441,000 2,573,000 1,672,000 3,663,000

Apr 2014

2,422,000 2,389,000 1,537,000 3,407,000

May 2014

2,559,000 2,356,000 1,441,000 3,364,000

Jun 2014

2,425,000 2,421,000 1,516,000 3,121,000

Jul 2014

2,543,000 2,419,000 1,417,000 3,185,000

Aug 2014

2,627,000 2,389,000 1,515,000 2,973,000

Sep 2014

2,370,000 2,526,000 1,440,000 2,968,000

Oct 2014

2,483,000 2,292,000 1,423,000 2,884,000

Nov 2014

2,484,000 2,391,000 1,386,000 2,844,000

Dec 2014

2,380,000 2,325,000 1,254,000 2,783,000

Jan 2015

2,424,000 2,316,000 1,401,000 2,778,000

Feb 2015

2,450,000 2,249,000 1,327,000 2,660,000

Mar 2015

2,466,000 2,330,000 1,241,000 2,536,000

Apr 2015

2,693,000 2,379,000 1,137,000 2,507,000

May 2015

2,415,000 2,494,000 1,286,000 2,503,000

Jun 2015

2,330,000 2,378,000 1,397,000 2,135,000

Jul 2015

2,483,000 2,229,000 1,176,000 2,183,000

Aug 2015

2,087,000 2,319,000 1,277,000 2,186,000

Sep 2015

2,357,000 2,223,000 1,228,000 2,108,000

Oct 2015

2,341,000 2,274,000 1,219,000 2,125,000

Nov 2015

2,399,000 2,278,000 1,265,000 2,066,000

Dec 2015

2,413,000 2,211,000 1,233,000 2,094,000

Jan 2016

2,257,000 2,287,000 1,140,000 2,094,000

Feb 2016

2,308,000 2,237,000 1,140,000 2,159,000

Mar 2016

2,420,000 2,210,000 1,167,000 2,213,000

Apr 2016

2,573,000 2,155,000 1,281,000 2,059,000

May 2016

2,197,000 2,251,000 1,174,000 1,893,000

Jun 2016

2,418,000 2,157,000 1,140,000 1,986,000

Jul 2016

2,147,000 2,274,000 1,158,000 2,017,000

Aug 2016

2,318,000 2,308,000 1,080,000 1,997,000

Sep 2016

2,584,000 2,220,000 1,164,000 1,963,000

Oct 2016

2,393,000 2,273,000 1,167,000 1,964,000

Nov 2016

2,415,000 2,133,000 1,073,000 1,856,000

Dec 2016

2,379,000 2,156,000 1,199,000 1,831,000

Jan 2017

2,468,000 2,089,000 1,192,000 1,850,000

Feb 2017

2,566,000 2,138,000 1,057,000 1,801,000

Mar 2017

2,334,000 2,109,000 1,115,000 1,687,000

Apr 2017

2,335,000 2,135,000 1,108,000 1,626,000

May 2017

2,154,000 1,960,000 1,157,000 1,663,000

Jun 2017

2,305,000 1,933,000 948,000 1,664,000

Jul 2017

2,133,000 2,017,000 957,000 1,785,000

Aug 2017

2,222,000 2,015,000 1,055,000 1,740,000

Sep 2017

2,226,000 1,874,000 963,000 1,733,000

Oct 2017

2,129,000 1,942,000 853,000 1,621,000

The number of long-term unemployed has declined 343,000 since October 2016. Since the most recent peak in April 2010, the number of long-term unemployed has fallen 5.2 million. The long-term unemployed accounted for 45.5 percent of all unemployed people in April 2010.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see “The Employment Situation — October 2017” (HTML) (PDF). Also see Charts related to the latest “The Employment Situation” news release.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 1.6 million people unemployed 27 weeks or more in October 2017, 24.8 percent of all unemployed at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/1-6-million-people-unemployed-27-weeks-or-more-in-october-2017-24-8-percent-of-all-unemployed.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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