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1.8 million people had been unemployed 27 weeks or longer in July 2026

August 13, 2026

In July, the number of long-term unemployed people—those who have been jobless for 27 weeks or more—edged down to 1.8 million from 1.9 million in the prior month. The number of people unemployed for less than 5 weeks also edged down, from 2.2 million in June to 2.0 million in July. 

Unemployed people by duration of unemployment
MonthLess than 5 weeks5-14 weeks15-26 weeks27 weeks and over
Jul 20162,203,0002,282,0001,222,0001,943,000
Aug 20162,285,0002,352,0001,094,0001,970,000
Sep 20162,600,0002,288,0001,184,0001,933,000
Oct 20162,434,0002,273,0001,190,0001,946,000
Nov 20162,404,0002,163,0001,108,0001,865,000
Dec 20162,354,0002,117,0001,241,0001,860,000
Jan 20172,424,0002,034,0001,197,0001,866,000
Feb 20172,511,0002,129,0001,032,0001,803,000
Mar 20172,327,0002,071,0001,024,0001,677,000
Apr 20172,324,0002,070,000979,0001,709,000
May 20172,116,0001,970,0001,075,0001,721,000
Jun 20172,321,0001,924,000916,0001,654,000
Jul 20172,075,0002,026,0001,018,0001,720,000
Aug 20172,258,0002,065,0001,107,0001,687,000
Sep 20172,245,0001,905,0001,024,0001,683,000
Oct 20172,126,0001,961,000925,0001,609,000
Nov 20172,278,0001,886,000987,0001,589,000
Dec 20172,237,0001,966,000932,0001,516,000
Jan 20182,214,0001,895,000952,0001,467,000
Feb 20182,469,0001,893,000873,0001,432,000
Mar 20182,303,0002,002,000795,0001,345,000
Apr 20182,142,0001,994,000888,0001,375,000
May 20181,997,0001,942,000935,0001,233,000
Jun 20182,269,0001,865,000881,0001,404,000
Jul 20181,968,0001,804,0001,006,0001,416,000
Aug 20182,241,0001,730,000995,0001,287,000
Sep 20182,074,0001,731,000936,0001,351,000
Oct 20182,055,0001,840,000920,0001,348,000
Nov 20182,168,0001,807,000904,0001,228,000
Dec 20182,149,0002,033,000934,0001,306,000
Jan 20192,336,0001,980,000881,0001,287,000
Feb 20192,252,0001,772,000894,0001,283,000
Mar 20192,174,0001,862,000906,0001,264,000
Apr 20191,966,0001,875,000783,0001,230,000
May 20192,114,0001,550,000784,0001,299,000
Jun 20191,889,0001,805,000835,0001,333,000
Jul 20192,110,0001,831,000898,0001,227,000
Aug 20192,268,0001,710,000847,0001,257,000
Sep 20191,849,0001,743,000846,0001,338,000
Oct 20191,922,0001,760,000915,0001,291,000
Nov 20192,067,0001,721,000887,0001,208,000
Dec 20192,090,0001,784,000829,0001,188,000
Jan 20202,050,0001,752,000887,0001,176,000
Feb 20202,088,0001,780,000789,0001,110,000
Mar 20203,422,0001,845,000784,0001,140,000
Apr 202014,263,0007,066,000782,000910,000
May 20203,867,00014,806,0001,061,0001,147,000
Jun 20202,909,00011,522,0001,917,0001,355,000
Jul 20203,140,0005,145,0006,468,0001,544,000
Aug 20202,316,0003,105,0006,506,0001,632,000
Sep 20202,557,0002,735,0004,918,0002,445,000
Oct 20202,480,0002,342,0002,625,0003,591,000
Nov 20202,491,0002,440,0001,886,0003,924,000
Dec 20202,913,0002,344,0001,574,0003,967,000
Jan 20212,277,0002,492,0001,346,0004,039,000
Feb 20212,181,0002,205,0001,384,0004,149,000
Mar 20212,162,0001,970,0001,400,0004,176,000
Apr 20212,418,0001,972,0001,247,0004,079,000
May 20211,996,0002,173,0001,300,0003,716,000
Jun 20212,021,0002,178,0001,330,0003,989,000
Jul 20212,247,0001,859,0001,158,0003,471,000
Aug 20212,070,0001,941,0001,170,0003,181,000
Sep 20212,265,0001,713,000993,0002,712,000
Oct 20212,072,0001,875,000970,0002,367,000
Nov 20211,981,0001,678,000879,0002,178,000
Dec 20211,999,0001,604,000789,0001,993,000
Jan 20222,459,0001,626,000847,0001,663,000
Feb 20222,107,0001,763,000740,0001,695,000
Mar 20222,284,0001,703,000620,0001,386,000
Apr 20222,288,0001,591,000635,0001,383,000
May 20222,027,0001,753,000746,0001,302,000
Jun 20222,278,0001,526,000753,0001,356,000
Jul 20222,088,0001,869,000696,0001,114,000
Aug 20222,175,0001,855,000811,0001,222,000
Sep 20222,187,0001,610,000854,0001,116,000
Oct 20222,212,0001,803,000765,0001,210,000
Nov 20222,240,0001,662,000790,0001,241,000
Dec 20222,245,0001,655,000817,0001,072,000
Jan 20231,932,0001,817,000918,0001,094,000
Feb 20232,251,0001,833,000818,0001,062,000
Mar 20232,256,0001,743,000797,0001,067,000
Apr 20231,881,0001,897,000779,0001,076,000
May 20232,074,0001,859,000912,0001,151,000
Jun 20232,105,0001,835,000898,0001,122,000
Jul 20231,999,0001,757,000958,0001,190,000
Aug 20232,179,0001,943,000925,0001,360,000
Sep 20232,089,0002,031,0001,031,0001,241,000
Oct 20232,293,0001,835,0001,026,0001,327,000
Nov 20232,061,0002,058,000971,0001,166,000
Dec 20232,221,0001,807,0001,067,0001,273,000
Jan 20242,135,0001,878,000874,0001,279,000
Feb 20242,317,0001,932,000974,0001,219,000
Mar 20242,186,0001,973,000985,0001,259,000
Apr 20242,287,0001,968,000886,0001,249,000
May 20242,302,0001,910,000969,0001,356,000
Jun 20242,155,0002,111,0001,069,0001,534,000
Jul 20242,353,0002,180,0001,076,0001,537,000
Aug 20242,443,0002,044,0001,156,0001,536,000
Sep 20242,165,0001,958,0001,125,0001,612,000
Oct 20242,118,0002,081,0001,226,0001,604,000
Nov 20242,192,0002,060,0001,231,0001,651,000
Dec 20242,175,0002,014,0001,202,0001,551,000
Jan 20252,292,0001,956,0001,158,0001,449,000
Feb 20252,334,0002,161,0001,033,0001,461,000
Mar 20252,362,0002,154,0001,010,0001,499,000
Apr 20252,194,0002,262,000993,0001,672,000
May 20252,456,0002,203,0001,042,0001,464,000
Jun 20252,254,0002,129,0001,064,0001,651,000
Jul 20252,304,0002,041,0001,166,0001,822,000
Aug 20252,475,0002,058,0001,051,0001,924,000
Sep 20252,232,0002,356,0001,286,0001,815,000
Oct 2025----
Nov 20252,540,0002,190,0001,190,0001,910,000
Dec 20252,289,0002,069,0001,195,0001,948,000
Jan 20262,166,0002,151,0001,202,0001,813,000
Feb 20262,319,0002,078,0001,206,0001,899,000
Mar 20262,138,0001,998,0001,212,0001,821,000
Apr 20262,496,0001,859,0001,057,0001,833,000
May 20262,210,0001,946,0001,077,0001,988,000
Jun 20262,182,0001,936,0001,052,0001,937,000
Jul 20261,960,0002,049,0001,157,0001,771,000

Note: Data are seasonally adjusted. Data for October 2025 were not collected due to the federal government shutdown.

The long-term unemployed made up 25.5 percent of the total unemployed population in July, while 28.2 percent had been out of work for less than 5 weeks. The number of long-term unemployed has ranged from 910,000 in April 2020 to 4.2 million in March 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These data are from the Current Population Survey and are seasonally adjusted. Data for October 2025 were not collected due to the federal government shutdown. For more information, see “The Employment Situation — July 2026.” We also have more charts on employment and unemployment.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 1.8 million people had been unemployed 27 weeks or longer in July 2026 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/1-8-million-people-had-been-unemployed-27-weeks-or-longer-in-july-2026.htm (visited August 13, 2026).