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In January 2024, the unemployment rate was 3.7 percent for the third month in a row. The rate has been within the range of 3.4 percent and 3.8 percent since February 2022. The number of unemployed people was little changed at 6.1 million in January 2024. Among the unemployed, 2.2 million, or 34.7 percent, were job losers not on a temporary layoff.
Month | New entrants | Job leavers | Reentrants | Job losers, not on temporary layoff | Job losers, on temporary layoff | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Percent | Level | Percent | Level | Percent | Level | Percent | Level | Percent | Level | |
Jan 2019 |
9.4 | 614,000 | 12.4 | 807,000 | 30.2 | 1,966,000 | 33.2 | 2,162,000 | 14.8 | 961,000 |
Feb 2019 |
10.1 | 624,000 | 13.6 | 836,000 | 30.6 | 1,885,000 | 33.0 | 2,029,000 | 12.7 | 783,000 |
Mar 2019 |
10.1 | 624,000 | 12.5 | 775,000 | 32.1 | 1,988,000 | 31.7 | 1,968,000 | 13.6 | 843,000 |
Apr 2019 |
9.6 | 578,000 | 12.0 | 722,000 | 32.4 | 1,949,000 | 33.3 | 2,004,000 | 12.7 | 761,000 |
May 2019 |
9.8 | 585,000 | 13.9 | 827,000 | 31.3 | 1,864,000 | 30.3 | 1,807,000 | 14.6 | 872,000 |
Jun 2019 |
8.6 | 509,000 | 15.2 | 897,000 | 30.7 | 1,815,000 | 32.3 | 1,911,000 | 13.2 | 778,000 |
Jul 2019 |
9.6 | 578,000 | 13.9 | 841,000 | 29.4 | 1,777,000 | 32.8 | 1,981,000 | 14.4 | 871,000 |
Aug 2019 |
9.7 | 575,000 | 13.4 | 794,000 | 29.5 | 1,754,000 | 33.7 | 2,003,000 | 13.7 | 811,000 |
Sep 2019 |
11.3 | 646,000 | 14.6 | 831,000 | 29.0 | 1,648,000 | 31.7 | 1,802,000 | 13.4 | 764,000 |
Oct 2019 |
10.3 | 610,000 | 14.1 | 835,000 | 28.9 | 1,707,000 | 32.6 | 1,926,000 | 14.0 | 825,000 |
Nov 2019 |
9.7 | 567,000 | 13.2 | 769,000 | 29.0 | 1,692,000 | 34.3 | 2,002,000 | 13.7 | 799,000 |
Dec 2019 |
9.9 | 575,000 | 14.3 | 832,000 | 28.7 | 1,676,000 | 33.3 | 1,945,000 | 13.8 | 805,000 |
Jan 2020 |
9.5 | 562,000 | 14.1 | 832,000 | 31.9 | 1,880,000 | 33.4 | 1,968,000 | 11.0 | 646,000 |
Feb 2020 |
8.9 | 515,000 | 13.2 | 762,000 | 31.5 | 1,816,000 | 33.1 | 1,907,000 | 13.3 | 765,000 |
Mar 2020 |
7.6 | 547,000 | 9.8 | 707,000 | 24.8 | 1,786,000 | 29.5 | 2,125,000 | 28.2 | 2,032,000 |
Apr 2020 |
1.6 | 374,000 | 2.4 | 548,000 | 6.4 | 1,479,000 | 11.3 | 2,600,000 | 78.3 | 18,073,000 |
May 2020 |
2.5 | 533,000 | 2.6 | 548,000 | 7.9 | 1,653,000 | 13.9 | 2,921,000 | 73.0 | 15,309,000 |
Jun 2020 |
3.2 | 572,000 | 3.2 | 562,000 | 13.1 | 2,301,000 | 20.7 | 3,644,000 | 59.8 | 10,523,000 |
Jul 2020 |
3.3 | 543,000 | 3.6 | 589,000 | 14.1 | 2,306,000 | 22.4 | 3,681,000 | 56.6 | 9,277,000 |
Aug 2020 |
4.1 | 548,000 | 4.6 | 617,000 | 15.2 | 2,038,000 | 30.5 | 4,096,000 | 45.7 | 6,148,000 |
Sep 2020 |
4.3 | 537,000 | 6.5 | 806,000 | 16.6 | 2,076,000 | 35.7 | 4,459,000 | 36.9 | 4,611,000 |
Oct 2020 |
4.7 | 518,000 | 7.0 | 765,000 | 18.1 | 1,993,000 | 40.8 | 4,493,000 | 29.4 | 3,231,000 |
Nov 2020 |
5.2 | 551,000 | 6.5 | 689,000 | 18.5 | 1,970,000 | 43.9 | 4,678,000 | 26.0 | 2,778,000 |
Dec 2020 |
4.7 | 510,000 | 7.0 | 757,000 | 20.9 | 2,252,000 | 39.0 | 4,211,000 | 28.3 | 3,058,000 |
Jan 2021 |
5.5 | 561,000 | 6.4 | 652,000 | 19.7 | 2,020,000 | 41.6 | 4,265,000 | 26.8 | 2,751,000 |
Feb 2021 |
5.9 | 591,000 | 7.0 | 703,000 | 21.5 | 2,157,000 | 43.2 | 4,332,000 | 22.4 | 2,241,000 |
Mar 2021 |
5.4 | 522,000 | 7.9 | 767,000 | 23.6 | 2,300,000 | 42.6 | 4,154,000 | 20.6 | 2,010,000 |
Apr 2021 |
5.5 | 544,000 | 8.3 | 817,000 | 21.5 | 2,120,000 | 43.0 | 4,240,000 | 21.7 | 2,140,000 |
May 2021 |
5.6 | 519,000 | 8.5 | 788,000 | 23.6 | 2,194,000 | 42.5 | 3,938,000 | 19.8 | 1,838,000 |
Jun 2021 |
5.3 | 497,000 | 10.1 | 947,000 | 24.4 | 2,297,000 | 42.0 | 3,950,000 | 18.3 | 1,717,000 |
Jul 2021 |
5.6 | 490,000 | 10.6 | 927,000 | 26.3 | 2,301,000 | 42.6 | 3,727,000 | 14.8 | 1,294,000 |
Aug 2021 |
6.2 | 511,000 | 10.1 | 830,000 | 29.5 | 2,423,000 | 39.2 | 3,217,000 | 14.9 | 1,225,000 |
Sep 2021 |
6.7 | 511,000 | 10.4 | 789,000 | 29.3 | 2,222,000 | 38.9 | 2,948,000 | 14.7 | 1,116,000 |
Oct 2021 |
7.1 | 514,000 | 11.7 | 845,000 | 29.9 | 2,163,000 | 36.8 | 2,661,000 | 14.4 | 1,041,000 |
Nov 2021 |
6.5 | 441,000 | 12.4 | 839,000 | 31.7 | 2,140,000 | 36.8 | 2,481,000 | 12.5 | 843,000 |
Dec 2021 |
7.8 | 496,000 | 11.5 | 725,000 | 32.3 | 2,042,000 | 36.1 | 2,283,000 | 12.3 | 777,000 |
Jan 2022 |
6.6 | 438,000 | 14.4 | 950,000 | 29.6 | 1,961,000 | 34.4 | 2,274,000 | 15.0 | 993,000 |
Feb 2022 |
6.8 | 428,000 | 15.1 | 959,000 | 30.8 | 1,951,000 | 33.7 | 2,136,000 | 13.5 | 857,000 |
Mar 2022 |
8.0 | 481,000 | 13.0 | 786,000 | 33.8 | 2,035,000 | 33.4 | 2,015,000 | 11.8 | 710,000 |
Apr 2022 |
8.2 | 502,000 | 13.0 | 793,000 | 30.5 | 1,856,000 | 33.1 | 2,011,000 | 15.1 | 921,000 |
May 2022 |
8.9 | 531,000 | 12.9 | 768,000 | 32.8 | 1,960,000 | 31.7 | 1,891,000 | 13.8 | 822,000 |
Jun 2022 |
8.0 | 472,000 | 14.2 | 836,000 | 34.3 | 2,020,000 | 31.0 | 1,827,000 | 12.6 | 743,000 |
Jul 2022 |
8.2 | 477,000 | 14.5 | 843,000 | 31.3 | 1,821,000 | 30.8 | 1,789,000 | 15.1 | 879,000 |
Aug 2022 |
7.5 | 447,000 | 15.2 | 902,000 | 30.6 | 1,817,000 | 33.0 | 1,956,000 | 13.6 | 808,000 |
Sep 2022 |
8.0 | 454,000 | 16.0 | 905,000 | 31.6 | 1,795,000 | 30.4 | 1,723,000 | 14.0 | 796,000 |
Oct 2022 |
8.3 | 492,000 | 14.5 | 863,000 | 31.4 | 1,863,000 | 31.3 | 1,855,000 | 14.5 | 862,000 |
Nov 2022 |
9.4 | 556,000 | 14.0 | 829,000 | 30.4 | 1,799,000 | 33.0 | 1,952,000 | 13.2 | 778,000 |
Dec 2022 |
8.8 | 502,000 | 14.4 | 824,000 | 31.3 | 1,786,000 | 31.7 | 1,808,000 | 13.8 | 788,000 |
Jan 2023 |
9.1 | 526,000 | 15.3 | 883,000 | 31.2 | 1,799,000 | 31.2 | 1,804,000 | 13.2 | 763,000 |
Feb 2023 |
8.7 | 521,000 | 14.8 | 888,000 | 30.6 | 1,844,000 | 32.5 | 1,959,000 | 13.4 | 807,000 |
Mar 2023 |
8.6 | 506,000 | 14.2 | 841,000 | 28.5 | 1,683,000 | 35.6 | 2,104,000 | 13.2 | 781,000 |
Apr 2023 |
9.0 | 519,000 | 13.6 | 786,000 | 30.9 | 1,778,000 | 33.3 | 1,916,000 | 13.2 | 760,000 |
May 2023 |
8.6 | 527,000 | 12.4 | 764,000 | 30.1 | 1,851,000 | 36.1 | 2,218,000 | 12.7 | 782,000 |
Jun 2023 |
9.4 | 559,000 | 13.4 | 796,000 | 30.0 | 1,776,000 | 33.9 | 2,009,000 | 13.2 | 781,000 |
Jul 2023 |
9.0 | 534,000 | 14.3 | 854,000 | 31.3 | 1,868,000 | 33.2 | 1,980,000 | 12.1 | 723,000 |
Aug 2023 |
9.4 | 592,000 | 12.8 | 804,000 | 30.8 | 1,931,000 | 34.0 | 2,132,000 | 13.0 | 813,000 |
Sep 2023 |
9.3 | 586,000 | 12.7 | 797,000 | 32.3 | 2,024,000 | 32.8 | 2,056,000 | 13.0 | 813,000 |
Oct 2023 |
9.4 | 603,000 | 12.5 | 801,000 | 29.2 | 1,869,000 | 34.7 | 2,217,000 | 14.1 | 904,000 |
Nov 2023 |
9.3 | 582,000 | 13.2 | 821,000 | 28.4 | 1,771,000 | 34.8 | 2,169,000 | 14.3 | 889,000 |
Dec 2023 |
9.8 | 609,000 | 13.4 | 833,000 | 27.9 | 1,741,000 | 34.3 | 2,140,000 | 14.7 | 917,000 |
Jan 2024 |
8.9 | 550,000 | 12.8 | 794,000 | 29.5 | 1,834,000 | 34.7 | 2,151,000 | 14.1 | 876,000 |
Data are seasonally adjusted. |
The number of job losers who were on a temporary layoff was 876,000 in January 2024, or 14.1 percent of the total unemployed.
At 794,000 in January 2024, people that left their job voluntarily accounted for 12.8 percent of the unemployed compared to 15.3 percent one year prior.
Reentrants to the labor force made up 29.5 percent of the unemployed in January 2024, while new entrants accounted for 8.9 percent.
People are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work. There are four unemployment categories: job losers, job leavers, reentrants, and new entrants. Job losers consists of two groups, people on temporary layoff and not on temporary layoff. Job leavers include those who quit or voluntarily ended their jobs and immediately began searching for a new job. Reentrants previously worked but were out of the labor force before they began their job search. New entrants are looking for their first job and have no previous work experience.
These data are from the Current Population Survey and are seasonally adjusted. For more information, see “The Employment Situation — January 2024.” We also have more charts on employment and unemployment.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Number of unemployed at 6.1 million in January 2024 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2024/number-of-unemployed-at-6-1-million-in-january-2024.htm (visited October 31, 2024).