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United States — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for United States, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
4.20%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · -38.3% since 1991
Unemployment for United States was 4.20% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 9.63% in 2010. The lowest was 3.64% in 2023 (about 1.2× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -1.41% per year.
United States ranks 118 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 63%. The median for North America is 6.91%, so United States sits below it. It peaked in 2010 and has fallen 56% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 20%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
4.20%
First (1991)
6.80%
Change
-38.3%
Highest
9.63%
in 2010
Lowest
3.64%
in 2023
Average
5.68%
Annual growth (CAGR)
-1.41%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 4.2% |
| 2024 | 4.02% |
| 2023 | 3.64% |
| 2022 | 3.65% |
| 2021 | 5.35% |
| 2020 | 8.06% |
| 2019 | 3.67% |
| 2018 | 3.9% |
| 2017 | 4.36% |
| 2016 | 4.87% |
| 2015 | 5.28% |
| 2014 | 6.17% |
Reading this correctly. Share of the labor force without work but available for and seeking employment. National definitions differ, so cross-country comparison needs care. Figures are in % of total labor force. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS — Unemployment Rate. Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.