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14.7 million people unemployed at some point in 2024

April 02, 2026

The number of people who experienced some unemployment during 2024 was 14.7 million, up by 978,000 from 2023. Overall, 174.6 million people worked at some point in 2024, up by 2.6 million from the prior year. 

The work-experience unemployment rate (people unemployed at some time during the year as a proportion of those who worked or looked for work during the year) increased by 0.4 percentage point to 8.3 percent. Men continued to have a higher work-experience unemployment rate than women (8.7 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively). The rates for both men and women increased by 0.4 percentage point over the year.  

Work-experience unemployment rate by sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, 2023–2024
Characteristic20232024

Total

7.98.3

Men

8.38.7

Women

7.47.8

White, total

7.37.6

White men

7.88.1

White women

6.77.1

Black, total

10.511.7

Black men

11.112.8

Black women

10.010.7

Asian, total

6.86.7

Asian men

6.86.3

Asian women

6.87.1

Hispanic or Latino, total

9.89.8

Hispanic or Latino men

10.210.4

Hispanic or Latino women

9.39.1

Work-experience unemployment rates varied by race and ethnicity in 2024. The rate continued to be lower for Asian (6.7 percent) and White (7.6 percent) workers than for Black (11.7 percent) and Hispanic or Latino (9.8 percent) workers. Work-experience unemployment rates for Black workers and White workers increased in 2024.  

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see "Work Experience of the Population — 2024." People whose ethnicity is Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 14.7 million people unemployed at some point in 2024 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/14-7-million-people-unemployed-at-some-point-in-2024.htm (visited April 03, 2026).