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28.4 percent of unemployed were on temporary layoff in December 2020
January 13, 2021
In December 2020, 28.4 percent of the unemployed were job losers on temporary layoff. These are people who lost their jobs and were given a date to return to work or who expect to return to work within 6 months. This compared with 77.9 percent in April 2020. In December 2020, the largest share of the unemployed, at 38.9 percent, were job losers not on temporary layoff. These are people who permanently lost their jobs or completed temporary jobs. This group made up 11.3 percent of the unemployed in April 2020.
Percent of total unemployed by reason for unemployment, December 2019–December 2020, seasonally adjusted
Month
Job losers on temporary layoff
Job losers not on temporary layoff
Job leavers
Reentrants
New entrants
Dec 2019
13.5%
32.9%
14.0%
29.8%
9.9%
Jan 2020
11.1
33.4
14.3
31.6
9.7
Feb 2020
13.0
33.6
13.3
31.2
8.9
Mar 2020
28.4
29.8
9.9
24.6
7.3
Apr 2020
77.9
11.3
2.5
6.5
1.8
May 2020
72.9
14.2
2.7
7.7
2.6
Jun 2020
59.8
20.7
3.2
13.2
3.1
Jul 2020
56.6
22.5
3.6
14.2
3.1
Aug 2020
45.8
30.2
4.4
15.6
4.1
Sep 2020
37.0
35.3
6.5
17.0
4.3
Oct 2020
29.4
40.5
6.9
18.3
4.8
Nov 2020
25.9
44.0
6.5
18.4
5.2
Dec 2020
28.4
38.9
6.9
21.0
4.7
Reentrants to the labor force accounted for 21.0 percent of the unemployed in December 2020, compared with 6.5 percent in April 2020. Job leavers, or those who quit or otherwise voluntarily left their previous job and immediately began looking for new employment, represented 6.9 percent of the unemployed, compared with a share of 2.5 percent in April 2020.
United States Department of Labor
