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19.2 percent of the unemployed had been jobless for 27 weeks or more in February 2020

March 11, 2020

In February 2020, the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, and the number of unemployed people was 5.8 million. Both these numbers were little changed from January. The percentage of the unemployed who had been jobless for 27 weeks or more was 19.2 percent in February 2020.

Percent of unemployed people by duration of unemployment, seasonally adjusted
Date Less than 5 weeks 5–14 weeks 15–26 weeks 27 weeks or more

Feb 2008

35.5% 31.7% 14.9% 17.8%

Mar 2008

36.0 32.3 14.9 16.9

Apr 2008

32.2 33.2 17.0 17.7

May 2008

38.4 29.0 14.3 18.3

Jun 2008

31.7 34.7 15.4 18.2

Jul 2008

32.4 32.2 16.5 18.9

Aug 2008

34.5 29.2 16.5 19.8

Sep 2008

29.9 31.9 16.8 21.3

Oct 2008

31.0 29.9 16.7 22.3

Nov 2008

31.7 31.0 16.2 21.1

Dec 2008

28.8 31.0 17.1 23.1

Jan 2009

29.5 30.6 17.3 22.6

Feb 2009

26.9 30.7 19.1 23.4

Mar 2009

25.7 30.6 19.5 24.2

Apr 2009

24.1 29.9 19.0 27.1

May 2009

22.0 30.3 20.7 27.0

Jun 2009

20.8 27.0 23.2 29.0

Jul 2009

21.7 24.2 20.2 34.0

Aug 2009

20.0 26.7 19.0 34.3

Sep 2009

18.9 25.1 19.4 36.6

Oct 2009

20.9 23.0 19.5 36.6

Nov 2009

18.7 23.0 18.9 39.3

Dec 2009

19.0 22.8 17.9 40.4

Jan 2010

19.2 22.3 16.9 41.6

Feb 2010

18.6 22.4 18.5 40.5

Mar 2010

18.3 21.7 16.8 43.2

Apr 2010

18.2 20.7 15.6 45.5

May 2010

18.7 21.1 15.3 44.9

Jun 2010

18.2 21.4 15.5 44.9

Jul 2010

19.4 20.5 15.2 44.9

Aug 2010

18.3 24.2 14.8 42.8

Sep 2010

19.3 22.7 15.7 42.3

Oct 2010

18.2 22.9 16.3 42.6

Nov 2010

19.5 22.2 15.9 42.4

Dec 2010

18.7 22.0 14.7 44.6

Jan 2011

19.0 21.5 15.7 43.8

Feb 2011

17.9 22.7 16.6 42.8

Mar 2011

18.5 21.8 15.1 44.6

Apr 2011

20.2 21.7 15.2 43.0

May 2011

19.4 21.1 14.9 44.7

Jun 2011

20.9 21.2 13.3 44.6

Jul 2011

19.2 21.3 14.4 45.1

Aug 2011

19.1 21.5 15.8 43.6

Sep 2011

19.7 20.7 14.4 45.2

Oct 2011

19.4 23.7 14.3 42.6

Nov 2011

19.4 22.1 15.2 43.2

Dec 2011

20.4 21.9 15.0 42.7

Jan 2012

19.3 22.7 15.3 42.7

Feb 2012

20.5 22.3 16.1 41.1

Mar 2012

21.4 22.0 15.3 41.3

Apr 2012

20.9 22.9 15.4 40.8

May 2012

20.2 23.8 13.4 42.7

Jun 2012

21.5 22.0 14.2 42.3

Jul 2012

21.1 23.6 14.0 41.2

Aug 2012

22.3 22.5 14.8 40.4

Sep 2012

20.9 23.2 15.4 40.5

Oct 2012

21.5 23.3 14.6 40.6

Nov 2012

21.9 23.2 14.6 40.2

Dec 2012

22.4 23.6 15.1 38.8

Jan 2013

22.3 25.0 15.2 37.5

Feb 2013

22.7 23.4 14.8 39.2

Mar 2013

21.1 24.2 15.7 39.1

Apr 2013

21.0 24.6 16.5 37.8

May 2013

23.0 22.6 17.1 37.3

Jun 2013

22.8 24.2 16.0 37.0

Jul 2013

22.0 24.5 15.8 37.6

Aug 2013

22.2 24.1 15.1 38.6

Sep 2013

23.2 24.0 16.0 36.8

Oct 2013

25.2 23.5 15.5 35.9

Nov 2013

22.4 24.1 15.8 37.7

Dec 2013

22.4 24.4 16.1 37.1

Jan 2014

24.2 23.8 16.6 35.3

Feb 2014

22.9 25.0 15.6 36.5

Mar 2014

23.4 24.6 16.4 35.6

Apr 2014

24.8 24.3 15.4 35.6

May 2014

26.6 24.2 14.7 34.5

Jun 2014

25.5 25.6 15.9 32.9

Jul 2014

27.0 25.1 15.3 32.6

Aug 2014

27.7 25.2 15.9 31.2

Sep 2014

25.4 27.5 15.4 31.7

Oct 2014

27.4 25.3 15.4 31.8

Nov 2014

27.2 26.4 15.4 31.1

Dec 2014

27.1 26.5 14.5 32.0

Jan 2015

27.0 26.2 15.5 31.3

Feb 2015

27.7 26.0 15.5 30.8

Mar 2015

28.6 27.0 14.6 29.8

Apr 2015

31.2 26.9 12.5 29.4

May 2015

28.3 28.7 14.4 28.6

Jun 2015

27.9 29.0 16.9 26.2

Jul 2015

31.5 27.1 15.4 26.0

Aug 2015

26.4 29.6 16.3 27.6

Sep 2015

29.7 28.5 15.5 26.3

Oct 2015

29.7 28.5 15.2 26.7

Nov 2015

29.7 28.6 15.9 25.8

Dec 2015

30.2 27.6 15.5 26.8

Jan 2016

28.7 29.7 14.5 27.1

Feb 2016

28.7 28.8 14.8 27.8

Mar 2016

30.0 27.3 14.8 27.9

Apr 2016

32.4 26.0 15.5 26.1

May 2016

30.0 30.0 14.9 25.1

Jun 2016

30.8 28.3 14.9 26.0

Jul 2016

29.3 29.4 15.9 25.5

Aug 2016

29.9 30.3 14.1 25.8

Sep 2016

32.5 28.7 14.5 24.3

Oct 2016

31.3 28.9 14.9 25.0

Nov 2016

31.8 28.8 14.5 24.9

Dec 2016

31.2 28.1 15.9 24.8

Jan 2017

32.2 27.6 15.7 24.5

Feb 2017

33.3 28.8 14.0 23.9

Mar 2017

32.0 29.0 15.4 23.6

Apr 2017

32.9 28.9 15.0 23.2

May 2017

31.2 28.2 16.4 24.2

Jun 2017

33.1 28.4 13.7 24.8

Jul 2017

31.5 29.0 14.5 25.0

Aug 2017

31.2 29.2 15.1 24.5

Sep 2017

33.1 28.0 14.0 24.9

Oct 2017

33.1 29.4 13.0 24.5

Nov 2017

33.5 28.3 14.3 23.8

Dec 2017

33.7 29.8 13.5 23.0

Jan 2018

34.4 29.2 14.6 21.9

Feb 2018

36.3 28.7 13.8 21.2

Mar 2018

34.9 30.7 13.7 20.6

Apr 2018

33.2 30.4 15.9 20.4

May 2018

32.9 31.6 16.1 19.4

Jun 2018

34.7 29.1 13.5 22.7

Jul 2018

33.3 28.8 15.4 22.5

Aug 2018

35.3 28.3 15.0 21.3

Sep 2018

34.4 28.8 14.2 22.6

Oct 2018

34.2 29.8 13.8 22.2

Nov 2018

35.1 30.0 14.2 20.8

Dec 2018

33.4 31.7 14.2 20.7

Jan 2019

35.8 30.9 13.9 19.4

Feb 2019

35.1 29.3 15.0 20.7

Mar 2019

34.3 29.4 15.2 21.2

Apr 2019

32.7 31.5 14.8 21.1

May 2019

36.9 26.9 14.0 22.2

Jun 2019

32.6 30.7 13.0 23.7

Jul 2019

36.4 29.5 14.9 19.2

Aug 2019

36.7 28.9 13.7 20.7

Sep 2019

32.4 30.8 14.0 22.8

Oct 2019

33.7 29.8 15.1 21.5

Nov 2019

34.6 29.9 14.7 20.8

Dec 2019

35.6 29.9 14.0 20.5

Jan 2020

35.1 29.9 15.1 19.9

Feb 2020

35.1 31.4 14.4 19.2

Since February 2008, the percentage of long-term unemployed was at its lowest (16.9 percent) in March 2008, and peaked at 45.5 percent in April 2010.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see “The Employment Situation — February 2020.” We also have more charts on unemployment and the labor force.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 19.2 percent of the unemployed had been jobless for 27 weeks or more in February 2020 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/19-point-2-percent-of-the-unemployed-had-been-jobless-for-27-weeks-or-more-in-february-2020.htm (visited March 19, 2024).

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