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Unemployment rate steady at 4.1 percent in October 2024

November 08, 2024

The unemployment rate for people age 16 and older was unchanged at 4.1 percent in October 2024, but higher than a year earlier (3.8 percent). The rate has ranged from 4.0 percent to 4.3 percent since May 2024.

Unemployment rates (in percent) by race, ethnicity, sex, and age, January 2014–October 2024
Month Total, 16 years and over   White   Black or African American   Asian     Hispanic or Latino   Men,
20 years and over
Women,
20 years and over
Total,
16 to 19 years

Jan 2014

6.6 5.7 12.1 4.7 8.3 6.2 5.8 20.4

Feb 2014

6.7 5.8 11.8 5.9 8.2 6.3 5.9 21.4

Mar 2014

6.7 5.8 12.1 5.5 7.9 6.1 6.2 20.8

Apr 2014

6.2 5.3 11.6 5.9 7.2 5.9 5.6 19.4

May 2014

6.3 5.4 11.4 5.7 7.7 5.9 5.8 19.3

Jun 2014

6.1 5.3 11.0 4.7 7.8 5.7 5.3 20.4

Jul 2014

6.2 5.3 11.6 4.2 7.7 5.7 5.6 20.3

Aug 2014

6.1 5.3 11.4 4.5 7.4 5.7 5.6 19.4

Sep 2014

5.9 5.1 11.0 4.4 6.8 5.3 5.5 20.1

Oct 2014

5.7 4.9 10.6 5.1 6.8 5.1 5.4 18.7

Nov 2014

5.8 5.0 10.9 4.8 6.6 5.4 5.3 17.2

Dec 2014

5.6 4.7 10.6 4.4 6.4 5.2 5.1 16.9

Jan 2015

5.7 4.9 10.3 4.0 6.7 5.3 5.0 18.5

Feb 2015

5.5 4.7 10.1 4.0 6.8 5.2 4.9 16.9

Mar 2015

5.4 4.8 9.9 3.2 6.8 5.1 4.9 17.5

Apr 2015

5.4 4.7 9.7 4.4 6.8 5.0 5.0 17.2

May 2015

5.6 4.8 10.3 4.1 6.8 5.2 5.1 17.8

Jun 2015

5.3 4.6 9.7 3.9 6.7 4.8 4.7 18.0

Jul 2015

5.2 4.5 9.1 3.9 6.9 4.8 4.8 16.4

Aug 2015

5.1 4.4 9.4 3.4 6.6 4.7 4.6 16.9

Sep 2015

5.0 4.4 9.3 3.5 6.2 4.7 4.6 16.5

Oct 2015

5.0 4.4 9.0 3.5 6.3 4.7 4.6 15.9

Nov 2015

5.1 4.4 9.4 3.9 6.4 4.8 4.6 15.3

Dec 2015

5.0 4.4 8.5 4.1 6.2 4.6 4.5 16.2

Jan 2016

4.8 4.2 8.5 3.6 5.9 4.3 4.5 15.9

Feb 2016

4.9 4.2 8.6 3.8 5.5 4.4 4.5 15.4

Mar 2016

5.0 4.3 8.9 3.9 5.6 4.5 4.7 16.0

Apr 2016

5.1 4.4 8.8 3.8 6.2 4.7 4.6 16.1

May 2016

4.8 4.2 8.2 4.1 5.7 4.4 4.3 15.9

Jun 2016

4.9 4.3 8.7 3.6 6.0 4.5 4.4 16.0

Jul 2016

4.8 4.2 8.2 3.8 5.4 4.7 4.1 15.2

Aug 2016

4.9 4.4 8.0 4.1 5.6 4.5 4.4 15.7

Sep 2016

5.0 4.4 8.5 3.8 6.2 4.7 4.4 16.1

Oct 2016

4.9 4.4 8.5 3.4 5.7 4.6 4.4 15.8

Nov 2016

4.7 4.2 8.2 3.1 5.6 4.4 4.3 15.5

Dec 2016

4.7 4.2 8.0 2.7 5.8 4.4 4.3 14.9

Jan 2017

4.7 4.2 7.5 3.6 5.8 4.3 4.3 14.6

Feb 2017

4.6 4.0 8.0 3.5 5.6 4.2 4.2 14.6

Mar 2017

4.4 3.8 7.8 3.2 5.0 4.2 4.0 13.4

Apr 2017

4.4 3.9 7.7 3.3 5.2 3.9 4.1 14.4

May 2017

4.4 3.7 7.7 3.6 5.2 3.9 4.1 14.2

Jun 2017

4.3 3.8 6.9 3.7 5.0 3.9 3.9 13.6

Jul 2017

4.3 3.8 7.3 3.7 5.1 4.0 3.9 13.2

Aug 2017

4.4 3.9 7.7 3.9 5.1 4.1 4.0 13.9

Sep 2017

4.3 3.7 7.2 3.6 5.1 3.9 3.9 12.9

Oct 2017

4.2 3.6 7.6 3.0 5.0 3.9 3.7 14.0

Nov 2017

4.2 3.7 7.5 3.1 4.9 3.8 3.7 16.2

Dec 2017

4.1 3.7 6.7 2.6 5.0 3.8 3.8 13.6

Jan 2018

4.0 3.5 7.5 2.9 4.9 3.7 3.6 13.8

Feb 2018

4.1 3.6 6.8 3.0 4.9 3.6 3.7 14.4

Mar 2018

4.0 3.5 6.7 3.1 4.9 3.6 3.7 13.2

Apr 2018

4.0 3.6 6.4 2.9 4.8 3.7 3.6 12.7

May 2018

3.8 3.5 5.9 2.2 4.8 3.6 3.4 13.1

Jun 2018

4.0 3.5 6.4 3.2 4.5 3.7 3.6 12.6

Jul 2018

3.8 3.4 6.5 3.0 4.5 3.4 3.6 12.9

Aug 2018

3.8 3.4 6.3 2.9 4.7 3.5 3.5 12.8

Sep 2018

3.7 3.3 6.1 3.5 4.6 3.5 3.3 12.3

Oct 2018

3.8 3.4 6.5 3.1 4.4 3.6 3.4 12.1

Nov 2018

3.8 3.4 6.1 2.8 4.7 3.4 3.5 12.4

Dec 2018

3.9 3.5 6.6 3.3 4.4 3.6 3.5 12.6

Jan 2019

4.0 3.5 7.0 3.0 4.8 3.6 3.6 13.2

Feb 2019

3.8 3.2 7.2 3.2 4.2 3.4 3.4 13.8

Mar 2019

3.8 3.3 6.7 3.0 4.7 3.5 3.4 12.7

Apr 2019

3.7 3.2 6.7 2.3 4.2 3.4 3.2 13.1

May 2019

3.6 3.2 6.1 2.6 4.2 3.3 3.3 12.9

Jun 2019

3.6 3.3 5.8 2.0 4.3 3.3 3.3 12.6

Jul 2019

3.7 3.4 5.7 2.8 4.5 3.4 3.3 12.6

Aug 2019

3.6 3.4 5.3 2.8 4.1 3.4 3.2 12.3

Sep 2019

3.5 3.2 5.3 2.5 3.9 3.3 3.1 12.2

Oct 2019

3.6 3.2 5.5 2.9 4.1 3.4 3.2 11.9

Nov 2019

3.6 3.2 5.5 2.6 4.3 3.2 3.3 12.0

Dec 2019

3.6 3.2 6.0 2.6 4.2 3.2 3.3 12.6

Jan 2020

3.6 3.1 6.4 3.0 4.3 3.2 3.3 12.6

Feb 2020

3.5 3.0 6.1 2.5 4.3 3.2 3.1 11.4

Mar 2020

4.4 3.9 7.0 4.1 6.0 4.1 4.0 14.3

Apr 2020

14.8 14.2 16.9 14.5 18.9 13.0 15.5 32.8

May 2020

13.2 12.3 16.8 15.0 17.6 11.5 13.9 30.4

Jun 2020

11.0 10.0 15.3 13.6 14.5 10.1 11.2 22.4

Jul 2020

10.2 9.2 14.3 12.0 12.9 9.4 10.5 19.2

Aug 2020

8.4 7.4 12.8 10.6 10.5 7.9 8.3 16.6

Sep 2020

7.8 7.0 11.9 8.9 10.2 7.3 7.8 16.0

Oct 2020

6.8 6.0 10.8 7.5 8.8 6.7 6.4 13.9

Nov 2020

6.7 5.9 10.2 6.7 8.6 6.6 6.2 13.8

Dec 2020

6.7 6.1 9.9 6.0 9.3 6.4 6.3 15.8

Jan 2021

6.4 5.7 9.3 6.6 8.5 6.1 6.0 15.0

Feb 2021

6.2 5.6 9.9 5.1 8.5 6.0 5.9 13.9

Mar 2021

6.1 5.4 9.9 5.9 7.9 5.8 5.8 13.0

Apr 2021

6.1 5.3 10.2 5.7 7.9 6.0 5.7 12.0

May 2021

5.8 5.1 9.1 5.7 7.2 5.8 5.3 9.7

Jun 2021

5.9 5.2 9.1 5.6 7.3 5.9 5.5 11.1

Jul 2021

5.4 4.8 8.1 5.3 6.5 5.4 5.0 10.4

Aug 2021

5.1 4.5 8.6 4.5 6.1 5.1 4.7 11.1

Sep 2021

4.7 4.2 7.7 4.2 6.2 4.7 4.3 11.3

Oct 2021

4.5 3.9 7.6 4.2 5.7 4.2 4.2 11.3

Nov 2021

4.1 3.7 6.4 3.8 5.0 3.9 3.9 10.9

Dec 2021

3.9 3.3 6.9 3.8 4.6 3.6 3.6 11.0

Jan 2022

4.0 3.4 7.0 3.6 4.7 3.8 3.6 11.2

Feb 2022

3.8 3.3 6.6 2.9 4.3 3.5 3.7 10.2

Mar 2022

3.6 3.2 6.4 2.7 4.2 3.4 3.4 10.3

Apr 2022

3.7 3.3 6.1 3.0 4.2 3.5 3.3 10.6

May 2022

3.6 3.2 6.2 2.4 4.4 3.4 3.4 10.5

Jun 2022

3.6 3.3 5.8 2.9 4.3 3.4 3.3 10.9

Jul 2022

3.5 3.1 5.9 2.7 4.0 3.3 3.1 11.2

Aug 2022

3.6 3.2 6.4 2.8 4.5 3.5 3.2 10.2

Sep 2022

3.5 3.0 5.8 2.5 3.9 3.3 3.1 11.4

Oct 2022

3.6 3.2 5.8 3.0 4.2 3.3 3.4 10.6

Nov 2022

3.6 3.2 5.6 2.6 4.0 3.3 3.3 11.3

Dec 2022

3.5 3.0 5.7 2.4 4.2 3.1 3.2 10.5

Jan 2023

3.4 3.1 5.4 2.9 4.7 3.2 3.1 10.5

Feb 2023

3.6 3.2 5.7 3.4 5.4 3.3 3.3 11.1

Mar 2023

3.5 3.2 5.1 2.8 4.6 3.4 3.2 9.9

Apr 2023

3.4 3.1 4.8 2.8 4.4 3.3 3.1 9.3

May 2023

3.7 3.3 5.7 3.0 4.1 3.5 3.3 10.3

Jun 2023

3.6 3.1 6.0 3.1 4.2 3.4 3.1 11.2

Jul 2023

3.5 3.1 5.7 2.3 4.4 3.4 3.1 11.3

Aug 2023

3.8 3.4 5.3 3.2 4.9 3.7 3.2 12.3

Sep 2023

3.8 3.4 5.7 2.9 4.6 3.8 3.1 11.8

Oct 2023

3.8 3.5 5.8 3.1 4.8 3.7 3.2 13.1

Nov 2023

3.7 3.3 5.8 3.5 4.6 3.7 3.1 11.4

Dec 2023

3.7 3.5 5.2 3.1 5.0 3.5 3.3 11.9

Jan 2024

3.7 3.4 5.3 2.9 5.0 3.6 3.2 10.6

Feb 2024

3.9 3.4 5.6 3.4 5.0 3.5 3.5 12.5

Mar 2024

3.8 3.4 6.4 2.5 4.5 3.3 3.6 12.6

Apr 2024

3.9 3.5 5.6 2.8 4.8 3.6 3.5 11.7

May 2024

4.0 3.5 6.1 3.1 5.0 3.8 3.4 12.3

Jun 2024

4.1 3.5 6.3 4.1 4.9 3.8 3.7 12.1

Jul 2024

4.3 3.8 6.3 3.7 5.3 4.0 3.8 12.4

Aug 2024

4.2 3.8 6.1 4.1 5.5 4.0 3.7 14.1

Sep 2024

4.1 3.6 5.7 4.1 5.1 3.7 3.6 14.3

Oct 2024

4.1 3.8 5.7 3.9 5.1 3.9 3.6 13.8

Note: Data are seasonally adjusted. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.

The unemployment rate increased sharply to 14.8 percent in April 2020, reflecting the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it. This measure returned to its pre-pandemic level of 3.5 percent in July 2022.

In October 2024, among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for Whites (3.8 percent), Blacks (5.7 percent), Asians (3.9 percent), Hispanics (5.1 percent), adult men (3.9 percent), adult women (3.6 percent), and teenagers (13.8 percent) showed little or no change.

These data are from the Current Population Survey and are seasonally adjusted. For more information, see “The Employment Situation — October 2024.” Also see more charts on employment and unemployment. To learn how unemployment rates are calculated, see "Unemployment Rate Explained," a BLS Video.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Unemployment rate steady at 4.1 percent in October 2024 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2024/unemployment-rate-steady-at-4-1-percent-in-october-2024.htm (visited December 02, 2024).

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