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The number of people who experienced some unemployment during 2019 was 13.6 million, edging up by 401,000 from the number in 2018. Overall, 170.7 million people worked or looked for work at some time in 2019, up 2.0 million from 2018. The work-experience unemployment rate (those looking for work during the year as a percent of those who worked or looked for work during the year) was 8.0 percent in 2019. This is little different from the low of 7.8 percent reached in 2018. (The data began in 1958).
Year | Total | Men | Women |
---|---|---|---|
1958 |
17.9% | 19.6% | 15.1% |
1959 |
15.3 | 16.5 | 13.5 |
1960 |
17.2 | 18.4 | 15.3 |
1961 |
18.4 | 19.4 | 16.7 |
1962 |
18.2 | 18.8 | 17.1 |
1963 |
16.7 | 17.2 | 15.9 |
1964 |
16.2 | 16.3 | 16.1 |
1965 |
14.1 | 14.0 | 14.2 |
1966 |
13.0 | 12.5 | 13.8 |
1967 |
12.9 | 12.6 | 13.4 |
1968 |
12.4 | 11.7 | 13.4 |
1969 |
12.5 | 12.3 | 12.9 |
1970 |
15.3 | 15.5 | 15.0 |
1971 |
16.3 | 16.4 | 16.2 |
1972 |
15.5 | 15.3 | 15.8 |
1973 |
14.3 | 13.5 | 15.4 |
1974 |
17.9 | 17.3 | 18.7 |
1975 |
20.2 | 20.0 | 20.5 |
1976 |
19.1 | 18.8 | 19.5 |
1977 |
17.9 | 17.5 | 18.3 |
1978 |
15.9 | 15.4 | 16.5 |
1979 |
15.8 | 15.5 | 16.1 |
1980 |
18.1 | 18.5 | 17.6 |
1981 |
19.5 | 20.0 | 19.0 |
1982 |
22.0 | 23.3 | 20.4 |
1983 |
19.6 | 21.0 | 17.8 |
1984 |
17.4 | 18.1 | 16.5 |
1985 |
16.7 | 17.2 | 16.0 |
1986 |
16.2 | 16.9 | 15.3 |
1987 |
14.1 | 15.0 | 13.1 |
1988 |
12.9 | 13.7 | 12.0 |
1989 |
12.9 | 13.7 | 12.1 |
1990 |
14.7 | 15.7 | 13.6 |
1991 |
15.7 | 17.5 | 13.7 |
1992 |
15.8 | 17.7 | 13.6 |
1993 |
14.8 | 15.9 | 13.5 |
1994 |
13.5 | 14.2 | 12.7 |
1995 |
12.8 | 13.3 | 12.1 |
1996 |
11.7 | 12.0 | 11.3 |
1997 |
10.8 | 11.2 | 10.2 |
1998 |
9.6 | 9.5 | 9.7 |
1999 |
8.8 | 9.0 | 8.4 |
2000 |
8.6 | 9.0 | 8.1 |
2001 |
10.4 | 11.1 | 9.6 |
2002 |
11.0 | 11.9 | 9.9 |
2003 |
10.7 | 11.5 | 9.8 |
2004 |
9.7 | 10.1 | 9.3 |
2005 |
9.3 | 9.7 | 8.8 |
2006 |
9.1 | 9.6 | 8.5 |
2007 |
9.5 | 10.3 | 8.6 |
2008 |
13.2 | 14.5 | 11.7 |
2009 |
16.4 | 18.8 | 13.6 |
2010 |
15.9 | 17.7 | 13.8 |
2011 |
14.9 | 15.8 | 13.8 |
2012 |
13.9 | 14.5 | 13.1 |
2013 |
12.9 | 13.5 | 12.2 |
2014 |
10.9 | 11.4 | 10.3 |
2015 |
10.2 | 10.4 | 10.0 |
2016 |
9.4 | 9.5 | 9.2 |
2017 |
8.6 | 9.0 | 8.3 |
2018 |
7.8 | 8.2 | 7.4 |
2019 |
8.0 | 8.3 | 7.6 |
Note: Data for 1966 and later refer to people 16 years and older. Data for 1958–65 are for people 14 years and older. |
In 2019, men continued to have a higher work-experience unemployment rate than women—8.3 percent for men, compared with 7.6 percent for women. The rates for both men and women changed little from 2018.
These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see "Work Experience of the Population — 2019."
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 8.0 percent of people who worked or looked for work experienced unemployment in 2019 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/8-percent-of-people-who-worked-or-looked-for-work-experienced-unemployment-in-2019.htm (visited October 31, 2024).