what is the unemployment rate 
the u s unemployment rate is released on the first friday of every month for the preceding month the current and past editions of the report are available from the bureau of labor statistics bls the unemployment rate is the percentage of the labor force without a job it is a lagging indicator and generally rises or falls with changing economic conditions 12investopedia dennis madambaunderstanding the unemployment ratein the u s the most commonly cited national unemployment rate is the u 3 which the bls releases as part of its monthly employment situation report it defines unemployed people as those willing and available to work and who have actively sought work within the past four weeks 45the national unemployment rate for june 2024 3according to the bls those with temporary part time or full time jobs are considered employed as are those who perform at least 15 hours of unpaid work for a family business or farm many people who want to work but cannot or become discouraged after looking for work without success are not considered unemployed but categorized outside the labor force 6the unemployment rate is seasonally adjusted to account for predictable variations such as extra hiring during the holidays the bls also provides the unadjusted rate 784unemployment by stateother metricsthe bls publishes five alternative measures u 1 u 2 u 4 u 5 and u 6 u 6 is often called the real unemployment rate but u 3 is the only official unemployment rate the others are measures of labor underutilization 4u 1 the u 1 unemployment rate includes those unemployed for 15 weeks or more as a percent of the civilian labor force the u 1 unemployment rate as of june 2024 was 1 5 4u 1 unemployed for 15 weeks labor force 100 begin aligned u 1 bigg frac text unemployed for 15 weeks text labor force bigg times 100 end aligned u 1 labor forceunemployed for 15 weeks 100 u 2 those who lost jobs and completed temporary jobs as a percent of the civilian labor force account for the u 2 unemployment rate this rate for june 2024 was 1 9 4u 2 lost jobs completed temp jobslabor force 100 begin aligned u 2 bigg frac text lost jobs text completed temp jobs text labor force bigg times 100 end aligned u 2 labor forcelost jobs completed temp jobs 100 u 4 unemployed people plus discouraged workers as a percent of the labor force make up the u 4 unemployment rate which was 4 3 as of june 2024 this category includes people who lack the necessary qualifications or education and believe work is unavailable in their field 94u 4 unemployed discouraged workerslabor force discouraged workers 100 begin aligned u 4 frac text unemployed text discouraged workers text labor force text discouraged workers times 100 end aligned u 4 labor force discouraged workersunemployed discouraged workers 100 u 5 unemployed people discouraged workers plus those marginally attached to the labor force as a percent of the labor force make up the u 5 rate the u 5 rate for june 2024 was 4 9 the marginally attached include discouraged workers and anyone who would like a job and has looked for one in the past 12 months but actively gave up searching as with u 5 the denominator is expanded to include the marginally attached who are not technically part of the labor force 104u 5 unemployed marginally attachedlabor force marginally attached 100 begin aligned u 5 frac text unemployed text marginally attached text labor force text marginally attached times100 end aligned u 5 labor force marginally attachedunemployed marginally attached 100 u 6 this metric is the bls s most comprehensive and includes unemployed people people who are marginally attached to the labor force plus those who are employed part time for economic reasons as a percentage of the labor force the denominator for this ratio is the same as in u 5 the rate for june 2024 was 7 4 114u 6 unemployed ma pterlabor force ma 100where ma marginally attachedpter part time for economic reasons begin aligned u 6 frac text unemployed text ma text pter text labor force text ma times 100 textbf where text ma text marginally attached text pter text part time for economic reasons end aligned u 6 labor force maunemployed ma pter 100where ma marginally attachedpter part time for economic reasons collecting dataemployment statistics are produced by the bls an agency within the department of labor dol every month the census bureau part of the department of commerce doc conducts the current population survey cps using a sample of approximately 60 000 households or about 110 000 individuals the survey includes information on race ethnicity age veteran status and gender the sample is rotated so that 75 of the households remain constant from month to month and 50 from year to year the surveys include industry information occupations average earnings and union membership for those who are jobless interviewers also ask whether they quit or were fired or laid off 1213the survey excludes individuals under the age of 16 and those who are in the armed forces people in correctional facilities mental healthcare facilities and similar institutions are also excluded 14interviewers ask questions that determine employment status but do not ask whether respondents are employed or unemployed nor do the interviewers assign employment status they record the answers for the bls to analyze 15unemployment and the economyunemployment is one of the most closely watched indicators for economic health along with gross domestic product gdp and the consumer price index cpi the unemployment rate has an inverse relationship with the stock market and inflation two key metrics for the overall economy a low unemployment rate tends to be associated with an increased average wage due to the reduced labor supply this can result in inflation as employers raise prices to account for increased labor costs low unemployment also tends to be accompanied by increased stock prices because the workforce has more disposable income 