Unemployment rate,Percent in United States
United States: Unemployment rate,Percent was 4.3% in 2026. ▼ Falling
Unemployment rate,Percent in United States, 1990–2026
Source: World Bank.
Analysis
United States recorded 4.3% for unemployment rate,percent in 2026.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 6.1% on the previous year and down 12.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, unemployment rate,percent in United States peaked at 9.6% in 2010 and was at its lowest, 3.6%, in 2023.
That places United States 48th out of 71 countries with data for 2026, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 36 years of available data.
Unemployment rate,Percent in United States, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 5.6% | — |
| 1991 | 6.8% | +22.0% |
| 1992 | 7.5% | +9.4% |
| 1993 | 6.9% | -7.8% |
| 1994 | 6.1% | -11.7% |
| 1995 | 5.6% | -8.3% |
| 1996 | 5.4% | -3.3% |
| 1997 | 4.9% | -8.6% |
| 1998 | 4.5% | -8.9% |
| 1999 | 4.2% | -6.3% |
| 2000 | 4.0% | -5.9% |
| 2001 | 4.7% | +19.5% |
| 2002 | 5.8% | +22.0% |
| 2003 | 6.0% | +3.6% |
| 2004 | 5.5% | -7.5% |
| 2005 | 5.1% | -8.3% |
| 2006 | 4.6% | -9.3% |
| 2007 | 4.6% | +0.2% |
| 2008 | 5.8% | +25.6% |
| 2009 | 9.3% | +60.1% |
| 2010 | 9.6% | +3.5% |
| 2011 | 8.9% | -7.0% |
| 2012 | 8.1% | -9.6% |
| 2013 | 7.4% | -8.9% |
| 2014 | 6.2% | -16.3% |
| 2015 | 5.3% | -14.3% |
| 2016 | 4.9% | -7.6% |
| 2017 | 4.4% | -10.6% |
| 2018 | 3.9% | -10.7% |
| 2019 | 3.7% | -5.6% |
| 2020 | 8.1% | +120.4% |
| 2021 | 5.3% | -34.0% |
| 2022 | 3.6% | -31.8% |
| 2023 | 3.6% | -0.7% |
| 2024 | 4.0% | +11.0% |
| 2026 | 4.3% | +6.1% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 4.3% is below the median for high income countries, which is 5.0%, 86% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Unemployment rate,Percent in United States changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +120.4% | 3.7% | 8.1% |
| 2009 | +60.1% | 5.8% | 9.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 5.8% | 4.2% | 7.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 5.5% | 4.0% | 9.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.2% | 3.7% | 9.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.8% | 3.6% | 8.1% | 6 |
Countries ranked near United States
More reference data data for United States
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 19.34 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 24.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 119.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 20.7 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 119.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 64.85 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 52.14 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 133.45 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 589.96 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 112.69 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is unemployment rate,percent in United States?
- Unemployment rate,percent in United States was 4.3% in 2026, according to the World Bank.
- What is the highest unemployment rate,percent recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 9.6% in 2010.
- What is the lowest unemployment rate,percent recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.6% in 2023.
- How does United States rank for unemployment rate,percent?
- United States ranks 48th out of 71 countries with data for 2026.
- Is unemployment rate,percent rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 12.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from the World Bank, published as part of Unemployment rate,Percent,,,. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 36 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).