Current Population Survey (LNS14100000) · Full-time workers, seasonally adjusted
What is the unemployment rate of full-time workers?
The unemployment rate of full-time workers was 4.1% in the month ended , down 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier.
Unemployment rate, full-time workers, seasonally adjusted, each month
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to .
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .
Unemployment rate, full-time workers, change from a year earlier, each month (ours)
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to .
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .
Each point is one month of the series as the source publishes it, or a change worked out from those values (ours). The US recessions are shaded. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.
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Inspect and compare dates
The newest month beside the one before it and the nearest ones a year, five and ten years earlier. The last ten years are in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".
| Measure | Latest | The month before | A year earlier | Five years earlier | Ten years earlier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | |||||
| Unemployment rate, full-time workers | 4.1% | 4.1% | 4.4% | 4.8% | 5.0% |
| Change over a year | −0.3 pts | −0.2 pts | +0.4 pts | −2.9 pts | −0.1 pts |
The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.
Observed .
Right now
The unemployment rate of full-time workers was 4.1% in September 2026, the lowest since June 2025.
Over a year it is down 0.3 percentage points (ours).
ChangeOurs
| Period | Then | Change |
|---|---|---|
| One month | 4.1%, the rate in | 0.0 percentage points |
| Three months | 4.1%, the rate in | 0.0 percentage points |
| Twelve months | 4.4%, the rate in | −0.3 percentage points |
| Five years | 4.8%, the rate in | −0.7 percentage points |
| Ten years | 5.0%, the rate in | −0.9 percentage points |
In historyOurs
The unemployment rate of full-time workers of 4.1% in was higher than in 107 of the 703 other months since , the same in 18 and lower in 578.
Highest since : 12.9% in . Lowest since : 2.9% in .
AverageOurs
Average since : 5.90% (ours, a plain mean of the 704 months).
ComparedOurs
Over a year the unemployment rate of full-time workers is down 0.3 percentage points, which ranks 14 of the 18 rows of the table, where 1 is the largest change.
The table sets the unemployment rate of full-time workers beside the groups and measures on the unemployment by group page, by the change over a year in each one's newest month.
Understanding the unemployment rate of full-time workers
Where it stands today
The unemployment rate of full-time workers was 4.1% in September 2026.
What does the unemployment rate of full-time workers measure?
This is the unemployment rate of full-time workers: the unemployed who are looking for full-time work as a share of the full-time labor force, which is the people who usually work 35 hours or more a week plus those unemployed looking for full-time work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates it each month from the Current Population Survey, a survey of households.
Read more
What 500metrics adds: the change over one month, three months, a year and five years, the highest and lowest value since the series begins, and how the change over a year compares with the other lines of the unemployment by group page.
The numbers behind the chart
What was the unemployment rate of full-time workers in each month?The last ten years, 119 months, newest first; the chart and the file have every month since Jan 1968
| Month | Value | Change over a year |
|---|---|---|
| 4.1% | −0.3 pts | |
| 4.1% | −0.2 pts | |
| 4.1% | −0.2 pts | |
| 4.1% | +0.1 pts | |
| 4.2% | 0.0 pts | |
| 4.3% | +0.1 pts | |
| 4.2% | +0.1 pts | |
| 4.3% | +0.2 pts | |
| 4.2% | +0.2 pts | |
| 4.3% | +0.3 pts | |
| 4.5% | +0.4 pts | |
| 4.4% | +0.4 pts | |
| 4.3% | +0.2 pts | |
| 4.3% | +0.2 pts | |
| 4.0% | 0.0 pts | |
| 4.2% | +0.3 pts | |
| 4.2% | +0.4 pts | |
| 4.1% | +0.4 pts | |
| 4.1% | +0.2 pts | |
| 4.0% | +0.4 pts | |
| 4.0% | +0.2 pts | |
| 4.1% | +0.4 pts | |
| 4.1% | +0.4 pts | |
| 4.0% | +0.4 pts |
Show 95 more rows
| Month | Value | Change over a year |
|---|---|---|
| 4.1% | +0.5 pts | |
| 4.1% | +0.7 pts | |
| 4.0% | +0.5 pts | |
| 3.9% | +0.3 pts | |
| 3.8% | +0.4 pts | |
| 3.7% | +0.2 pts | |
| 3.9% | +0.4 pts | |
| 3.6% | +0.2 pts | |
| 3.8% | +0.4 pts | |
| 3.7% | +0.2 pts | |
| 3.7% | +0.1 pts | |
| 3.6% | +0.2 pts | |
| 3.6% | 0.0 pts | |
| 3.4% | 0.0 pts | |
| 3.5% | −0.1 pts | |
| 3.6% | +0.1 pts | |
| 3.4% | −0.1 pts | |
| 3.5% | 0.0 pts | |
| 3.5% | −0.3 pts | |
| 3.4% | −0.5 pts | |
| 3.4% | −0.5 pts | |
| 3.5% | −0.7 pts | |
| 3.6% | −0.9 pts | |
| 3.4% | −1.4 pts | |
| 3.6% | −1.5 pts | |
| 3.4% | −2.1 pts | |
| 3.6% | −2.4 pts | |
| 3.5% | −2.4 pts | |
| 3.5% | −2.7 pts | |
| 3.5% | −2.6 pts | |
| 3.8% | −2.5 pts | |
| 3.9% | −2.5 pts | |
| 3.9% | −2.8 pts | |
| 4.2% | −2.6 pts | |
| 4.5% | −2.4 pts | |
| 4.8% | −2.9 pts | |
| 5.1% | −3.1 pts | |
| 5.5% | −4.2 pts | |
| 6.0% | −4.2 pts | |
| 5.9% | −6.1 pts | |
| 6.2% | −6.7 pts | |
| 6.1% | +2.0 pts | |
| 6.3% | +2.8 pts | |
| 6.4% | +2.9 pts | |
| 6.7% | +3.2 pts | |
| 6.8% | +3.3 pts | |
| 6.9% | +3.3 pts | |
| 7.7% | +4.3 pts | |
| 8.2% | +4.7 pts | |
| 9.7% | +6.1 pts | |
| 10.2% | +6.7 pts | |
| 12.0% | +8.5 pts | |
| 12.9% | +9.4 pts | |
| 4.1% | +0.4 pts | |
| 3.5% | −0.2 pts | |
| 3.5% | −0.4 pts | |
| 3.5% | −0.2 pts | |
| 3.5% | −0.1 pts | |
| 3.6% | −0.1 pts | |
| 3.4% | −0.2 pts | |
| 3.5% | −0.2 pts | |
| 3.6% | −0.1 pts | |
| 3.5% | −0.4 pts | |
| 3.5% | −0.2 pts | |
| 3.5% | −0.4 pts | |
| 3.7% | −0.2 pts | |
| 3.7% | −0.3 pts | |
| 3.9% | 0.0 pts | |
| 3.7% | −0.4 pts | |
| 3.6% | −0.4 pts | |
| 3.7% | −0.4 pts | |
| 3.6% | −0.7 pts | |
| 3.7% | −0.7 pts | |
| 3.7% | −0.6 pts | |
| 3.9% | −0.4 pts | |
| 3.7% | −0.5 pts | |
| 3.9% | −0.4 pts | |
| 3.9% | −0.4 pts | |
| 4.0% | −0.5 pts | |
| 3.9% | −0.8 pts | |
| 4.1% | −0.6 pts | |
| 4.0% | −0.8 pts | |
| 4.1% | −0.8 pts | |
| 4.3% | −0.7 pts | |
| 4.4% | −0.4 pts | |
| 4.3% | −0.5 pts | |
| 4.3% | −0.5 pts | |
| 4.2% | −0.6 pts | |
| 4.3% | −0.8 pts | |
| 4.3% | −0.7 pts | |
| 4.5% | −0.4 pts | |
| 4.7% | −0.1 pts | |
| 4.7% | −0.4 pts | |
| 4.8% | −0.3 pts | |
| 4.9% | −0.2 pts |
How does it compare with the groups and measures on the unemployment by group page?Ranked by the change over a year
| Series | Month | Value | Change over a year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime-age men | 3.7% | +0.2 pts | 1 | |
| New entrants | 0.5% | 0.0 pts | 2 | |
| Part-time workers | 4.5% | 0.0 pts | 2 | |
| U-1: 15 weeks or more | 1.8% | 0.0 pts | 2 | |
| Unemployed 27 weeks or more | 1.1% | 0.0 pts | 2 | |
| Job leavers | 0.4% | −0.1 pts | 6 | |
| Prime-age, 25 to 54 | 3.6% | −0.1 pts | 6 | |
| Reentrants | 1.3% | −0.1 pts | 6 | |
| Married | 2.1% | −0.2 pts | 9 | |
| Married men | 2.1% | −0.2 pts | 9 | |
| Married women | 2.1% | −0.2 pts | 9 | |
| U-2: job losers | 1.9% | −0.2 pts | 9 | |
| U-3: all unemployed | 4.2% | −0.2 pts | 9 | |
| Full-time workers (this page) | 4.1% | −0.3 pts | 14 | |
| U-4: plus discouraged workers | 4.4% | −0.3 pts | 14 | |
| Prime-age women | 3.4% | −0.4 pts | 16 | |
| U-5: plus marginally attached | 5.0% | −0.4 pts | 16 | |
| U-6: plus part time for economic reasons | 7.6% | −0.5 pts | 18 |
The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.
What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite
What this number cannot tell you
- The rate comes from a survey of households, so each month's value carries sampling error; BLS's technical note in the Employment Situation gives its size.
- BLS seasonally adjusts the rate and revises the adjusted values of the past five years each January.
- October 2025 has no value because BLS did not collect the survey that month; the chart shows a gap there, and the table of months has no row for it.
- The full-time and the part-time labor force are different groups of people, so the two rates are not parts of the headline rate.
- The changes, the ranks and the highest and lowest values are ours, worked out from the values BLS publishes; a change is in percentage points.
Observed . Checked .
How to cite this
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Full-time workers, seasonally adjusted, through September 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "What is the unemployment rate of full-time workers?", https://500metrics.com/unemployment-by-group/full-time-workers.
Can the data be downloaded?unemployment-by-group-full-time-workers.csv
Download the full history as CSV: 704 rows, to , 11,718 bytes.
Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.
Recession dates from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
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