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The unemployment rate was 5.8 percent in May 2021, down 0.3 percentage point from April 2021. The number of unemployed people fell by 496,000 to 9.3 million. This is down considerably from the recent high in April 2020 but remains well above the figure of 5.7 million in February 2020.
Month | Number of unemployed | Percent distribution | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total unemployed | Less than 5 weeks | 5 to 14 weeks | 15 to 26 weeks | 27 weeks and over | Less than 5 weeks | 5 to 14 weeks | 15 to 26 weeks | 27 weeks and over | |
Jan 2019 |
6,442,000 | 2,358,000 | 2,006,000 | 892,000 | 1,260,000 | 36.2% | 30.8% | 13.7% | 19.3% |
Feb 2019 |
6,128,000 | 2,236,000 | 1,730,000 | 914,000 | 1,292,000 | 36.2 | 28.0 | 14.8 | 20.9 |
Mar 2019 |
6,201,000 | 2,171,000 | 1,795,000 | 902,000 | 1,324,000 | 35.1 | 29.0 | 14.6 | 21.4 |
Apr 2019 |
5,995,000 | 1,986,000 | 1,847,000 | 799,000 | 1,300,000 | 33.5 | 31.1 | 13.5 | 21.9 |
May 2019 |
5,965,000 | 2,117,000 | 1,654,000 | 747,000 | 1,335,000 | 36.2 | 28.3 | 12.8 | 22.8 |
Jun 2019 |
5,914,000 | 1,846,000 | 1,878,000 | 782,000 | 1,381,000 | 31.4 | 31.9 | 13.3 | 23.5 |
Jul 2019 |
5,969,000 | 2,139,000 | 1,775,000 | 939,000 | 1,146,000 | 35.7 | 29.6 | 15.7 | 19.1 |
Aug 2019 |
6,000,000 | 2,235,000 | 1,750,000 | 862,000 | 1,228,000 | 36.8 | 28.8 | 14.2 | 20.2 |
Sep 2019 |
5,728,000 | 1,857,000 | 1,818,000 | 861,000 | 1,297,000 | 31.8 | 31.2 | 14.8 | 22.2 |
Oct 2019 |
5,922,000 | 1,954,000 | 1,778,000 | 927,000 | 1,235,000 | 33.2 | 30.2 | 15.7 | 21.0 |
Nov 2019 |
5,907,000 | 2,037,000 | 1,744,000 | 881,000 | 1,204,000 | 34.7 | 29.7 | 15.0 | 20.5 |
Dec 2019 |
5,844,000 | 2,098,000 | 1,682,000 | 821,000 | 1,177,000 | 36.3 | 29.1 | 14.2 | 20.4 |
Jan 2020 |
5,796,000 | 2,071,000 | 1,752,000 | 881,000 | 1,163,000 | 35.3 | 29.9 | 15.0 | 19.8 |
Feb 2020 |
5,717,000 | 2,082,000 | 1,753,000 | 817,000 | 1,111,000 | 36.1 | 30.4 | 14.2 | 19.3 |
Mar 2020 |
7,185,000 | 3,424,000 | 1,785,000 | 784,000 | 1,188,000 | 47.7 | 24.9 | 10.9 | 16.5 |
Apr 2020 |
23,109,000 | 14,282,000 | 6,992,000 | 763,000 | 1,004,000 | 62.0 | 30.3 | 3.3 | 4.4 |
May 2020 |
20,975,000 | 3,875,000 | 14,804,000 | 997,000 | 1,203,000 | 18.6 | 70.9 | 4.8 | 5.8 |
Jun 2020 |
17,697,000 | 2,853,000 | 11,544,000 | 1,907,000 | 1,358,000 | 16.2 | 65.4 | 10.8 | 7.7 |
Jul 2020 |
16,308,000 | 3,188,000 | 5,175,000 | 6,488,000 | 1,483,000 | 19.5 | 31.7 | 39.7 | 9.1 |
Aug 2020 |
13,542,000 | 2,312,000 | 3,213,000 | 6,536,000 | 1,593,000 | 16.9 | 23.5 | 47.9 | 11.7 |
Sep 2020 |
12,535,000 | 2,552,000 | 2,754,000 | 4,934,000 | 2,405,000 | 20.2 | 21.8 | 39.0 | 19.0 |
Oct 2020 |
11,049,000 | 2,494,000 | 2,341,000 | 2,651,000 | 3,534,000 | 22.6 | 21.2 | 24.1 | 32.1 |
Nov 2020 |
10,728,000 | 2,455,000 | 2,404,000 | 1,875,000 | 3,929,000 | 23.0 | 22.5 | 17.6 | 36.8 |
Dec 2020 |
10,736,000 | 2,904,000 | 2,222,000 | 1,572,000 | 3,956,000 | 27.3 | 20.9 | 14.8 | 37.1 |
Jan 2021 |
10,130,000 | 2,278,000 | 2,528,000 | 1,346,000 | 4,023,000 | 22.4 | 24.8 | 13.2 | 39.5 |
Feb 2021 |
9,972,000 | 2,185,000 | 2,254,000 | 1,407,000 | 4,148,000 | 21.9 | 22.6 | 14.1 | 41.5 |
Mar 2021 |
9,710,000 | 2,177,000 | 1,941,000 | 1,391,000 | 4,218,000 | 22.4 | 20.0 | 14.3 | 43.4 |
Apr 2021 |
9,812,000 | 2,414,000 | 1,939,000 | 1,203,000 | 4,183,000 | 24.8 | 19.9 | 12.4 | 43.0 |
May 2021 |
9,316,000 | 2,023,000 | 2,126,000 | 1,262,000 | 3,752,000 | 22.1 | 23.2 | 13.8 | 40.9 |
Note: Detail for the seasonally adjusted data will not necessarily sum to total because of the independent seasonal adjustment of the duration groups. |
In May 2021, the number of newly unemployed (those unemployed for less than 5 weeks) declined by 391,000 to 2.0 million. The number of long-term unemployed (those unemployed for 27 weeks or more) fell by 431,000 to 3.8 million in May but is 2.6 million higher than in February 2020.
These long-term unemployed accounted for 40.9 percent of the total unemployed in May 2021, while the number of newly unemployed accounted for 22.1 percent. The share of those unemployed for 5 to 14 weeks among the total unemployed was 23.2 percent in May 2021, while the share of those unemployed for 15 to 26 weeks was 13.8 percent.
These data are from the Current Population Survey and are seasonally adjusted. See "The Employment Situation — May 2021" to learn more. Also see charts of Employment Situation data.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Number of unemployed decreased by 496,000 to 9.3 million in May 2021 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/number-of-unemployed-decreased-by-496000-to-9-3-million-in-may-2021.htm (visited October 31, 2024).