Unemployment Rate

The percentage of people registered as unemployed in the United States. The figure is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed individuals in the labor force by the total labor force. Where the headline figure Change in Non-Farm Payrolls generally moves the market upon release, the Unemployment Rate serves as the most popular snap-shot figure for current labor conditions in the US.

The unemployment figure can give insight into the economy's production, consumption, earnings, and consumer sentiment. A lower unemployment rate equates to increased expenditure, as more people have jobs and wages to spend. Increased expenditure encourages economic growth, which can spark inflation pressures. Conversely, high levels of unemployment signal economic instability and weakened demand.

Persons are considered unemployed if they are able and willing to work but without a job and have actively sought employment within the last four weeks. The labor force includes all employed and unemployed individuals 16 years and older.

Except for the early 1980s and Three years after the financial crisis, the unemployment rate is still at the highest level since the Great Depression.


Time Unemployed

The growing length of joblessness is particularly worrisome because it tends to be self-perpetuating. The longer a person is unemployed, the less employable he or she becomes because of factors like stigma and skill deterioration. That means that the longer it takes to get Americans back to work, the further behind they will fall.

The average unemployed person in America has been looking for work for 18 weeks, or more than four months. The longest average unemployment spell since the Labor Department started keeping track in 1948 was 39.7 weeks.