HOUSEHOLD DATA
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED
QUARTERLY AVERAGES
E-10. Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment, seasonally adjusted [Numbers in thousands]
Duration 2015 2016 2017 2018
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 1st

NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED

Less than 5 weeks

 2,432 2,489 2,320 2,380 2,307 2,409 2,362 2,389 2,440 2,241 2,193 2,206 2,358

5 to 14 weeks

 2,293 2,430 2,257 2,254 2,237 2,206 2,264 2,188 2,099 2,013 1,960 1,944 1,952

15 weeks and over

 3,983 3,651 3,401 3,340 3,293 3,178 3,134 3,040 2,864 2,720 2,759 2,470 2,312

15 to 26 weeks

 1,331 1,248 1,259 1,226 1,156 1,178 1,158 1,136 1,114 1,049 1,017 886 932

27 weeks and over

 2,652 2,403 2,142 2,114 2,137 2,001 1,976 1,904 1,751 1,671 1,742 1,584 1,380

Average (mean) duration, in weeks(1)

 31.3 29.9 27.5 27.7 28.9 27.6 27.5 26.1 25.2 24.7 25.3 24.9 23.7

Median duration, in weeks

 12.7 11.6 11.3 11.1 11.4 10.8 10.6 10.4 10.3 10.2 10.3 9.5 9.3

PERCENT DISTRIBUTION

Total unemployed

 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Less than 5 weeks

 27.9 29.0 29.1 29.8 29.4 30.9 30.4 31.4 33.0 32.1 31.7 33.3 35.6

5 to 14 weeks

 26.3 28.4 28.3 28.3 28.5 28.3 29.2 28.7 28.4 28.9 28.4 29.4 29.5

15 weeks and over

 45.7 42.6 42.6 41.9 42.0 40.8 40.4 39.9 38.7 39.0 39.9 37.3 34.9

15 to 26 weeks

 15.3 14.6 15.8 15.4 14.8 15.1 14.9 14.9 15.0 15.0 14.7 13.4 14.1

27 weeks and over

 30.5 28.0 26.9 26.5 27.3 25.7 25.5 25.0 23.6 24.0 25.2 23.9 20.8

Footnotes
 (1) Beginning in January 2011, this series reflects a change to the collection of data on unemployment duration. For more information, see https://www.bls.gov/cps/duration.htm.

NOTE: Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

 

Last Modified Date: April 06, 2018