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Number of unemployed at 6.9 million in December 2024

January 17, 2025

The unemployment rate changed little at 4.1 percent in December 2024. After increasing earlier in the year, the unemployment rate has been either 4.1 percent or 4.2 percent for the past 7 months. The number of unemployed people, at 6.9 million, also changed little over the month. These measures are higher than a year earlier, when the jobless rate was 3.8 percent and the number of unemployed people was 6.3 million.

Reasons for unemployment, December 2019–December 2024
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

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

9.7 570,000 14.1 832,000 31.9 1,885,000 33.5 1,979,000 10.8 636,000

Feb 2020

8.8 510,000 13.3 766,000 31.4 1,813,000 33.1 1,910,000 13.3 768,000

Mar 2020

7.6 546,000 9.8 706,000 24.8 1,788,000 29.5 2,131,000 28.3 2,045,000

Apr 2020

1.6 379,000 2.4 549,000 6.4 1,483,000 11.2 2,592,000 78.3 18,052,000

May 2020

2.5 529,000 2.6 551,000 7.9 1,648,000 13.9 2,914,000 73.1 15,310,000

Jun 2020

3.2 572,000 3.2 563,000 13.0 2,292,000 20.7 3,639,000 59.9 10,535,000

Jul 2020

3.3 539,000 3.6 587,000 14.0 2,294,000 22.5 3,677,000 56.6 9,268,000

Aug 2020

4.1 545,000 4.6 615,000 15.1 2,033,000 30.4 4,088,000 45.8 6,161,000

Sep 2020

4.3 539,000 6.4 805,000 16.6 2,083,000 35.7 4,464,000 36.9 4,621,000

Oct 2020

4.7 517,000 7.0 765,000 18.2 1,992,000 40.9 4,485,000 29.2 3,194,000

Nov 2020

5.2 556,000 6.4 688,000 18.4 1,970,000 43.7 4,670,000 26.2 2,800,000

Dec 2020

4.7 507,000 7.0 754,000 21.0 2,271,000 39.1 4,231,000 28.3 3,062,000

Jan 2021

5.5 568,000 6.4 652,000 19.7 2,027,000 41.7 4,277,000 26.7 2,739,000

Feb 2021

5.9 594,000 7.0 707,000 21.5 2,153,000 43.2 4,333,000 22.4 2,245,000

Mar 2021

5.2 507,000 7.8 765,000 23.6 2,302,000 42.6 4,160,000 20.8 2,028,000

Apr 2021

5.7 559,000 8.3 818,000 21.6 2,127,000 42.9 4,230,000 21.5 2,117,000

May 2021

5.5 511,000 8.6 792,000 23.6 2,186,000 42.5 3,931,000 19.8 1,837,000

Jun 2021

5.3 494,000 10.1 950,000 24.3 2,287,000 42.0 3,946,000 18.4 1,729,000

Jul 2021

5.6 485,000 10.6 924,000 26.3 2,286,000 42.8 3,725,000 14.8 1,285,000

Aug 2021

6.2 510,000 10.1 828,000 29.5 2,416,000 39.2 3,211,000 15.0 1,234,000

Sep 2021

6.6 501,000 10.4 789,000 29.3 2,230,000 38.9 2,956,000 14.8 1,123,000

Oct 2021

7.4 533,000 11.7 846,000 30.0 2,162,000 36.8 2,652,000 14.0 1,012,000

Nov 2021

6.3 425,000 12.4 838,000 31.8 2,139,000 36.7 2,471,000 12.8 863,000

Dec 2021

8.0 510,000 11.3 722,000 32.4 2,064,000 36.1 2,305,000 12.2 776,000

Jan 2022

6.7 446,000 14.3 950,000 29.7 1,970,000 34.5 2,288,000 14.9 986,000

Feb 2022

6.8 429,000 15.2 964,000 30.7 1,945,000 33.7 2,135,000 13.6 864,000

Mar 2022

7.8 472,000 13.0 785,000 33.7 2,038,000 33.4 2,021,000 12.0 728,000

Apr 2022

8.4 508,000 13.1 793,000 30.7 1,863,000 33.0 2,000,000 14.9 902,000

May 2022

9.0 536,000 12.9 772,000 32.7 1,951,000 31.6 1,881,000 13.8 822,000

Jun 2022

7.6 449,000 14.3 839,000 34.2 2,009,000 31.1 1,825,000 12.8 753,000

Jul 2022

8.4 486,000 14.5 841,000 31.2 1,807,000 30.9 1,788,000 15.0 871,000

Aug 2022

7.2 427,000 15.2 900,000 30.7 1,810,000 33.1 1,950,000 13.8 813,000

Sep 2022

8.1 463,000 15.9 904,000 31.6 1,804,000 30.4 1,733,000 14.0 797,000

Oct 2022

8.4 497,000 14.6 863,000 31.5 1,862,000 31.2 1,845,000 14.2 838,000

Nov 2022

9.5 560,000 14.0 828,000 30.4 1,798,000 32.8 1,940,000 13.4 796,000

Dec 2022

8.7 499,000 14.3 820,000 31.5 1,810,000 31.9 1,831,000 13.6 784,000

Jan 2023

9.5 556,000 15.2 883,000 31.1 1,809,000 31.2 1,820,000 13.0 757,000

Feb 2023

8.6 517,000 14.8 893,000 30.5 1,837,000 32.5 1,956,000 13.6 817,000

Mar 2023

8.2 484,000 14.2 840,000 28.5 1,687,000 35.6 2,109,000 13.6 803,000

Apr 2023

9.5 546,000 13.7 787,000 31.0 1,786,000 33.0 1,904,000 12.9 741,000

May 2023

8.5 517,000 12.6 768,000 30.1 1,841,000 36.1 2,206,000 12.8 782,000

Jun 2023

9.2 543,000 13.5 798,000 29.9 1,764,000 34.0 2,009,000 13.4 791,000

Jul 2023

8.9 524,000 14.4 852,000 31.2 1,849,000 33.5 1,981,000 12.1 714,000

Aug 2023

9.3 579,000 12.8 802,000 30.8 1,922,000 34.1 2,128,000 13.1 815,000

Sep 2023

9.2 578,000 12.7 796,000 32.4 2,036,000 32.9 2,069,000 12.9 809,000

Oct 2023

9.9 635,000 12.5 801,000 29.2 1,867,000 34.5 2,205,000 13.8 882,000

Nov 2023

9.1 567,000 13.2 819,000 28.5 1,770,000 34.6 2,154,000 14.6 908,000

Dec 2023

9.9 624,000 13.2 829,000 28.1 1,770,000 34.4 2,164,000 14.4 909,000

Jan 2024

8.9 558,000 12.7 793,000 29.8 1,857,000 34.8 2,168,000 13.8 862,000

Feb 2024

9.7 631,000 10.9 712,000 30.1 1,964,000 36.6 2,390,000 12.6 824,000

Mar 2024

10.4 674,000 12.7 823,000 29.9 1,938,000 35.0 2,269,000 12.1 784,000

Apr 2024

8.9 581,000 12.0 785,000 29.8 1,949,000 36.2 2,365,000 13.1 860,000

May 2024

9.7 646,000 10.8 720,000 31.0 2,060,000 35.8 2,378,000 12.6 836,000

Jun 2024

10.4 701,000 11.2 754,000 31.2 2,103,000 35.1 2,370,000 12.1 817,000

Jul 2024

9.0 648,000 11.9 855,000 30.0 2,161,000 33.8 2,436,000 15.4 1,109,000

Aug 2024

10.1 708,000 12.1 845,000 30.4 2,133,000 35.1 2,456,000 12.3 865,000

Sep 2024

9.7 656,000 12.1 819,000 30.3 2,051,000 34.7 2,348,000 13.1 885,000

Oct 2024

8.8 608,000 11.6 802,000 31.1 2,151,000 36.7 2,543,000 11.8 820,000

Nov 2024

9.7 690,000 12.0 854,000 30.6 2,182,000 36.6 2,607,000 11.1 787,000

Dec 2024

9.5 655,000 13.8 947,000 29.5 2,031,000 34.7 2,389,000 12.5 862,000

Note: Data are seasonally adjusted.

Among the unemployed in December 2024, 2.4 million, or 34.7 percent, were job losers not on a temporary layoff.

In December 2024, 12.5 percent (or 862,000) of the unemployed were on a temporary layoff.

Reentrants made up 29.5 percent (or 2.0 million) of the unemployed in December 2024, while job leavers made up 13.8 percent (947,000) and new entrants were 9.5 percent (655,000).

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. Those unemployed are categorized into one of four general reasons for unemployment: job losers, job leavers, reentrants, and new entrants. The job losers category consists of two subgroups: 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 — December 2024.” We also have more charts on employment and unemployment.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Number of unemployed at 6.9 million in December 2024 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2025/number-of-unemployed-at-6-9-million-in-december-2024.htm (visited March 18, 2025).

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