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Number of unemployed on temporary layoff increase by 175,000 in January 2019

February 06, 2019

Both the unemployment rate, at 4.0 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, at 6.5 million, edged up in January 2019. The impact of the partial federal government shutdown contributed to the uptick in these measures. Among the unemployed, the number who reported being on temporary layoff increased by 175,000 to 937,000 in January 2019.

Number of unemployed by reason for unemployment, January 2009–January 2019, seasonally adjusted
Month People on temporary layoff People not on temporary layoff, permanent job losers People not on temporary layoff, who completed temporary jobs Job leavers Reentrants New entrants

Jan 2009

1,497,000 4,674,000 1,279,000 901,000 2,806,000 775,000

Feb 2009

1,519,000 5,101,000 1,459,000 837,000 2,939,000 999,000

Mar 2009

1,614,000 5,563,000 1,363,000 882,000 3,028,000 872,000

Apr 2009

1,684,000 5,929,000 1,348,000 869,000 3,107,000 901,000

May 2009

1,798,000 6,213,000 1,410,000 904,000 3,201,000 965,000

Jun 2009

1,712,000 6,386,000 1,431,000 819,000 3,331,000 1,001,000

Jul 2009

1,713,000 6,377,000 1,373,000 891,000 3,260,000 1,004,000

Aug 2009

1,654,000 6,559,000 1,428,000 842,000 3,282,000 1,085,000

Sep 2009

1,894,000 6,657,000 1,406,000 880,000 3,262,000 1,153,000

Oct 2009

1,672,000 6,762,000 1,497,000 903,000 3,411,000 1,102,000

Nov 2009

1,522,000 6,818,000 1,411,000 936,000 3,236,000 1,330,000

Dec 2009

1,496,000 6,684,000 1,411,000 923,000 3,371,000 1,241,000

Jan 2010

1,463,000 6,426,000 1,452,000 911,000 3,650,000 1,195,000

Feb 2010

1,575,000 6,699,000 1,321,000 877,000 3,469,000 1,192,000

Mar 2010

1,668,000 6,530,000 1,377,000 893,000 3,591,000 1,146,000

Apr 2010

1,391,000 6,625,000 1,398,000 930,000 3,772,000 1,187,000

May 2010

1,469,000 6,437,000 1,331,000 973,000 3,388,000 1,202,000

Jun 2010

1,353,000 6,385,000 1,301,000 888,000 3,300,000 1,174,000

Jul 2010

1,194,000 6,443,000 1,362,000 903,000 3,377,000 1,208,000

Aug 2010

1,444,000 6,320,000 1,363,000 870,000 3,372,000 1,278,000

Sep 2010

1,338,000 6,347,000 1,458,000 804,000 3,399,000 1,217,000

Oct 2010

1,272,000 6,134,000 1,479,000 854,000 3,481,000 1,277,000

Nov 2010

1,442,000 6,437,000 1,611,000 860,000 3,445,000 1,275,000

Dec 2010

1,374,000 5,944,000 1,513,000 920,000 3,379,000 1,306,000

Jan 2011

1,224,000 5,838,000 1,413,000 915,000 3,358,000 1,342,000

Feb 2011

1,302,000 5,680,000 1,370,000 888,000 3,348,000 1,287,000

Mar 2011

1,250,000 5,688,000 1,400,000 888,000 3,317,000 1,287,000

Apr 2011

1,289,000 5,578,000 1,427,000 951,000 3,416,000 1,305,000

May 2011

1,247,000 5,643,000 1,374,000 915,000 3,379,000 1,227,000

Jun 2011

1,183,000 5,574,000 1,400,000 969,000 3,514,000 1,242,000

Jul 2011

1,179,000 5,568,000 1,368,000 939,000 3,383,000 1,281,000

Aug 2011

1,181,000 5,426,000 1,402,000 979,000 3,520,000 1,254,000

Sep 2011

1,203,000 5,390,000 1,434,000 973,000 3,470,000 1,378,000

Oct 2011

1,247,000 5,240,000 1,404,000 1,086,000 3,370,000 1,287,000

Nov 2011

1,180,000 5,071,000 1,400,000 1,011,000 3,357,000 1,277,000

Dec 2011

1,238,000 5,028,000 1,289,000 952,000 3,359,000 1,282,000

Jan 2012

1,277,000 4,742,000 1,245,000 942,000 3,253,000 1,260,000

Feb 2012

1,163,000 4,683,000 1,289,000 1,035,000 3,342,000 1,367,000

Mar 2012

1,150,000 4,625,000 1,262,000 1,097,000 3,278,000 1,388,000

Apr 2012

1,106,000 4,506,000 1,236,000 1,008,000 3,392,000 1,376,000

May 2012

1,149,000 4,536,000 1,290,000 899,000 3,384,000 1,358,000

Jun 2012

1,239,000 4,561,000 1,314,000 929,000 3,296,000 1,325,000

Jul 2012

1,353,000 4,445,000 1,297,000 867,000 3,369,000 1,303,000

Aug 2012

1,168,000 4,415,000 1,250,000 943,000 3,352,000 1,257,000

Sep 2012

1,185,000 4,279,000 1,083,000 950,000 3,306,000 1,260,000

Oct 2012

1,089,000 4,252,000 1,212,000 1,037,000 3,298,000 1,301,000

Nov 2012

1,085,000 4,159,000 1,220,000 914,000 3,319,000 1,333,000

Dec 2012

1,126,000 4,120,000 1,269,000 992,000 3,592,000 1,291,000

Jan 2013

1,202,000 4,125,000 1,318,000 998,000 3,430,000 1,272,000

Feb 2013

1,083,000 4,087,000 1,283,000 947,000 3,306,000 1,253,000

Mar 2013

1,113,000 3,886,000 1,239,000 976,000 3,164,000 1,295,000

Apr 2013

1,202,000 3,897,000 1,239,000 888,000 3,184,000 1,302,000

May 2013

998,000 3,796,000 1,296,000 942,000 3,311,000 1,272,000

Jun 2013

1,153,000 3,733,000 1,233,000 1,029,000 3,381,000 1,246,000

Jul 2013

1,165,000 3,597,000 1,091,000 971,000 3,243,000 1,259,000

Aug 2013

1,017,000 3,712,000 1,164,000 880,000 3,150,000 1,289,000

Sep 2013

1,114,000 3,518,000 1,224,000 974,000 3,161,000 1,207,000

Oct 2013

1,579,000 3,523,000 1,153,000 852,000 3,057,000 1,221,000

Nov 2013

1,095,000 3,443,000 1,200,000 870,000 3,042,000 1,154,000

Dec 2013

1,008,000 3,258,000 1,166,000 855,000 3,009,000 1,199,000

Jan 2014

1,018,000 3,271,000 1,070,000 816,000 2,791,000 1,158,000

Feb 2014

1,016,000 3,224,000 1,182,000 814,000 2,969,000 1,209,000

Mar 2014

1,046,000 3,213,000 1,114,000 795,000 3,027,000 1,177,000

Apr 2014

1,051,000 3,022,000 1,104,000 806,000 2,622,000 1,082,000

May 2014

1,055,000 2,904,000 1,054,000 876,000 2,859,000 1,068,000

Jun 2014

987,000 2,790,000 1,036,000 854,000 2,794,000 1,036,000

Jul 2014

968,000 2,651,000 1,156,000 857,000 2,891,000 1,098,000

Aug 2014

1,087,000 2,608,000 1,066,000 849,000 2,905,000 1,050,000

Sep 2014

944,000 2,615,000 969,000 812,000 2,800,000 1,103,000

Oct 2014

892,000 2,506,000 971,000 781,000 2,839,000 1,072,000

Nov 2014

1,030,000 2,469,000 984,000 824,000 2,748,000 1,048,000

Dec 2014

947,000 2,398,000 995,000 793,000 2,676,000 964,000

Jan 2015

909,000 2,341,000 969,000 866,000 2,743,000 1,008,000

Feb 2015

1,013,000 2,211,000 954,000 900,000 2,626,000 935,000

Mar 2015

1,014,000 2,183,000 951,000 864,000 2,678,000 827,000

Apr 2015

1,005,000 2,231,000 915,000 843,000 2,677,000 872,000

May 2015

1,162,000 2,237,000 1,026,000 819,000 2,591,000 976,000

Jun 2015

1,011,000 2,143,000 903,000 768,000 2,546,000 904,000

Jul 2015

962,000 2,194,000 916,000 842,000 2,453,000 833,000

Aug 2015

952,000 2,123,000 905,000 774,000 2,374,000 841,000

Sep 2015

904,000 2,119,000 833,000 777,000 2,423,000 839,000

Oct 2015

984,000 2,129,000 872,000 784,000 2,408,000 824,000

Nov 2015

889,000 2,181,000 840,000 782,000 2,438,000 863,000

Dec 2015

917,000 2,052,000 831,000 818,000 2,463,000 853,000

Jan 2016

904,000 1,855,000 870,000 776,000 2,454,000 800,000

Feb 2016

956,000 1,941,000 833,000 775,000 2,459,000 818,000

Mar 2016

937,000 2,042,000 842,000 837,000 2,523,000 788,000

Apr 2016

879,000 2,065,000 922,000 876,000 2,353,000 849,000

May 2016

950,000 2,022,000 766,000 787,000 2,203,000 894,000

Jun 2016

1,077,000 1,927,000 749,000 830,000 2,292,000 889,000

Jul 2016

970,000 2,015,000 721,000 830,000 2,299,000 819,000

Aug 2016

982,000 1,999,000 794,000 874,000 2,277,000 862,000

Sep 2016

1,108,000 1,976,000 889,000 914,000 2,311,000 804,000

Oct 2016

1,035,000 1,912,000 836,000 956,000 2,332,000 799,000

Nov 2016

831,000 1,953,000 757,000 925,000 2,253,000 736,000

Dec 2016

1,023,000 1,897,000 703,000 907,000 2,189,000 775,000

Jan 2017

1,043,000 1,949,000 658,000 873,000 2,158,000 786,000

Feb 2017

970,000 1,985,000 697,000 813,000 2,210,000 750,000

Mar 2017

959,000 1,777,000 764,000 785,000 2,061,000 796,000

Apr 2017

953,000 1,795,000 789,000 779,000 2,022,000 703,000

May 2017

872,000 1,766,000 790,000 782,000 2,103,000 674,000

Jun 2017

879,000 1,769,000 775,000 809,000 2,038,000 682,000

Jul 2017

1,009,000 1,663,000 658,000 744,000 2,096,000 696,000

Aug 2017

1,017,000 1,804,000 698,000 785,000 2,148,000 653,000

Sep 2017

909,000 1,760,000 686,000 748,000 2,073,000 663,000

Oct 2017

872,000 1,705,000 660,000 746,000 1,998,000 622,000

Nov 2017

928,000 1,588,000 660,000 751,000 2,035,000 708,000

Dec 2017

923,000 1,627,000 699,000 726,000 1,985,000 568,000

Jan 2018

908,000 1,631,000 703,000 724,000 1,959,000 638,000

Feb 2018

871,000 1,667,000 689,000 784,000 1,954,000 703,000

Mar 2018

865,000 1,602,000 640,000 860,000 1,966,000 615,000

Apr 2018

865,000 1,418,000 682,000 812,000 2,001,000 615,000

May 2018

829,000 1,438,000 616,000 844,000 1,868,000 569,000

Jun 2018

901,000 1,475,000 678,000 801,000 2,078,000 579,000

Jul 2018

879,000 1,437,000 680,000 835,000 1,804,000 592,000

Aug 2018

855,000 1,351,000 663,000 866,000 1,864,000 586,000

Sep 2018

812,000 1,257,000 727,000 739,000 1,889,000 588,000

Oct 2018

793,000 1,365,000 701,000 731,000 1,914,000 605,000

Nov 2018

804,000 1,337,000 701,000 697,000 1,880,000 577,000

Dec 2018

762,000 1,432,000 710,000 839,000 1,958,000 588,000

Jan 2019

937,000 1,427,000 717,000 805,000 1,945,000 606,000

Among people who were not on temporary layoff in January 2019, 1,427,000 were permanent job losers, and 717,000 completed temporary jobs.

In January 2019, there were 1,945,000 reentrants, or 30.2 percent of the unemployed. Reentrants are people who previously worked but were out of the labor force before they began their job search. There were 805,000 job leavers, or 12.5 percent of the unemployed. These are people who quit or voluntarily ended their jobs and immediately began searching for a new job. New entrants, people looking for their first job and have no previous work experience, amounted to 606,000 people and made up 9.4 percent of the unemployed.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. People are grouped into four main reasons for their unemployment: (1) job losers and people who completed temporary jobs; (2) job leavers; (3) reentrants; (4) new entrants. Job losers include people on temporary layoff and people not on temporary layoff. Among people not on temporary layoff, there are permanent job losers and people who completed temporary jobs. For more information, see "The Employment Situation — January 2019." We also have more charts on employment, unemployment, and the labor force.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Number of unemployed on temporary layoff increase by 175,000 in January 2019 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/number-of-unemployed-on-temporary-layoff-increase-by-175000-in-january-2019.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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