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8.3 percent of people who worked or looked for work experienced unemployment in 2024
January 28, 2026
Overall, 177.2 million people worked or looked for work in 2024, up by 2.8 million from the prior year. The number who experienced some unemployment increased by 978,000 to 14.7 million. The work-experience unemployment rate (those unemployed during the year as a percentage of those who worked or looked for work during the year) increased by 0.4 percentage point to 8.3 percent.
Work-experience unemployment rate by sex, 1958–2024
Year
Total
Men
Women
1958
17.9
19.6
15.1
1959
15.3
16.5
13.5
1960
17.2
18.4
15.3
1961
18.4
19.4
16.7
1962
18.2
18.8
17.1
1963
16.7
17.2
15.9
1964
16.2
16.3
16.1
1965
14.1
14.0
14.2
1966
13.0
12.5
13.8
1967
12.9
12.6
13.4
1968
12.4
11.7
13.4
1969
12.5
12.3
12.9
1970
15.3
15.5
15.0
1971
16.3
16.4
16.2
1972
15.5
15.3
15.8
1973
14.3
13.5
15.4
1974
17.9
17.3
18.7
1975
20.2
20.0
20.5
1976
19.1
18.8
19.5
1977
17.9
17.5
18.3
1978
15.9
15.4
16.5
1979
15.8
15.5
16.1
1980
18.1
18.5
17.6
1981
19.5
20.0
19.0
1982
22.0
23.3
20.4
1983
19.6
21.0
17.8
1984
17.4
18.1
16.5
1985
16.7
17.2
16.0
1986
16.2
16.9
15.3
1987
14.1
15.0
13.1
1988
12.9
13.7
12.0
1989
12.9
13.7
12.1
1990
14.7
15.7
13.6
1991
15.7
17.5
13.7
1992
15.8
17.7
13.6
1993
14.8
15.9
13.5
1994
13.5
14.2
12.7
1995
12.8
13.3
12.1
1996
11.7
12.0
11.3
1997
10.8
11.2
10.2
1998
9.6
9.5
9.7
1999
8.8
9.0
8.4
2000
8.6
9.0
8.1
2001
10.4
11.1
9.6
2002
11.0
11.9
9.9
2003
10.7
11.5
9.8
2004
9.7
10.1
9.3
2005
9.3
9.7
8.8
2006
9.1
9.6
8.5
2007
9.5
10.3
8.6
2008
13.2
14.5
11.7
2009
16.4
18.8
13.6
2010
15.9
17.7
13.8
2011
14.9
15.8
13.8
2012
13.9
14.5
13.1
2013
12.9
13.5
12.2
2014
10.9
11.4
10.3
2015
10.2
10.4
10.0
2016
9.4
9.5
9.2
2017
8.6
9.0
8.3
2018
7.8
8.2
7.4
2019
8.0
8.3
7.6
2020
15.7
15.6
15.8
2021
9.5
9.9
9.0
2022
7.6
7.9
7.1
2023
7.9
8.3
7.4
2024
8.3
8.7
7.8
Note: Data for 1966 and later refer to people 16 years and older. Data for 1958–65 are for people 14 years and older.
In 2024, 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 were up by 0.4 percentage point over the year.
United States Department of Labor
