Your question
Is unemployment going up?
What is the US unemployment rate? 4.2% of the US labor force was unemployed in September 2026, against 4.3% in August 2025.
From 3 charts
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Jobs and wages
What is the US unemployment rate?
4.2% of the US labor force was unemployed in September 2026, against 4.3% in August 2025. Since the monthly rate began in 1948 it peaked at 14.8% in April 2020, at the start of the pandemic, and was lowest at 2.5% in May 1953. October 2025 is missing because a lapse in federal funding stopped the survey.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey · Data as of September 30, 2026 · Public domain (U.S. government work)
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Jobs and wages
Which states have the highest unemployment?
In September 2026, District of Columbia had the highest unemployment rate, 5.6%, followed by California (5.1%) and Connecticut (5.1%). South Dakota had the lowest at 2.0%, and the US rate was 4.2%. Rates are BLS monthly estimates for each state, seasonally adjusted.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics · Data as of September 30, 2026 · Public domain (U.S. government work)
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World
What is the unemployment rate in each country?
In 2025, 4.2% of workers in the United States were unemployed, against 4.8% worldwide; the highest rate was 34.2% in Eswatini, and the lowest 0.1%, in Qatar. Search 182 countries and territories. These are the International Labour Organization's estimates, which count people without work who are looking for it and fill gaps where a country runs no regular survey, so they can differ from a country's own figures.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators: Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (modeled ILO estimate) · Data as of December 31, 2025 · CC BY 4.0 (credit the World Bank)
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