United States Unemployment Rate
High | 4.0% | 4.0% |
4.1%
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Last release | Importance | Actual | Forecast |
Previous
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3.9% |
4.0%
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Next release | Actual | Forecast |
Previous
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Unemployment Rate is a percentage of unemployed residents in relation to the total civilian labor force. In the indicator calculation, the person who has been actively seeking job during the past four weeks and cannot start working right now is defined as unemployed. Such a person is included in the unemployment rate regardless of whether this person is receiving unemployment benefits.
Unemployment statistics data is collected by interviewing approximately 110,000 people (60,000 households) across the nation. Individuals under 16, those serving in the armed forces, persons in correctional facilities and psychiatric hospitals are excluded from the survey.
This indicator (also called U3) is the most commonly used rate for assessing the state of the US labor market. But this is not the only indicator of unemployment available. For example, its difference from U6 is that individuals employed part-time or temporarily due to economic reasons are not included in the statistics and are considered employed according to U3. Also the indicator does not take into account people who wish to work but cannot due to different reasons (such as disability and others) and those who have become discouraged after seeking job and no longer seek employment. So, U3 is often criticized for showing a very optimistic picture of the labor market.
The unemployment rate is one of the key indicators of the country's economic development. It is not a predictive indicator. Its growth or decline is a result of changes in the economic situation.
Decrease of unemployment is seen as positive for dollar quotes.
Last values:
actual data
forecast
The chart of the entire available history of the "United States Unemployment Rate" macroeconomic indicator. The dashed line shows the forecast values of the economic indicator for the specified dates.
A significant deviation of a real value from a forecast one may cause a short-term strengthening or weakening of a national currency in the Forex market. The threshold values of the indicators signaling the approach of the critical state of the national (local) economy occupy a special place.