US Unemployment Rate Latest: 4.1%
The unemployment rate is the share of the labour force that is actively looking for work but does not have a job. It is currently 4.1% as of August 1, 2026, unchanged versus the previous reading.
Employment is the second half of the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate, and the unemployment rate is the headline gauge of it. A rising rate signals weakening demand and usually pushes the Fed toward cutting; a falling rate signals a tight labour market and upward pressure on wages, which feeds back into services inflation.
The rate is calculated from the household survey, a smaller and noisier sample than the payrolls survey, and it can give misleading signals when people leave the labour force entirely — unemployed workers who stop looking are no longer counted. That is why analysts watch it alongside participation, payrolls, and the Sahm rule, which flags the start of a recession when the three-month average rises 0.5 points above its 12-month low.
For investors, a fast-rising unemployment rate is the classic trigger for aggressive easing and a steepening curve. We track the unemployment rate, payrolls and claims on the RiskCurve dashboard.
It is unchanged over the period to a month ago (Jul 01, 2026).
It is below the 4.3% average of the period we track, which has run from 4.1% (Jul 01, 2026) to 4.5% (Nov 01, 2025) — the lowest in that window (since Sep 01, 2025).
US Unemployment Rate — recent values
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| Aug 01, 2026 | 4.1% |
| Jul 01, 2026 | 4.1% |
| Jun 01, 2026 | 4.2% |
| May 01, 2026 | 4.3% |
| Apr 01, 2026 | 4.3% |
| Mar 01, 2026 | 4.3% |
| Feb 01, 2026 | 4.4% |
| Jan 01, 2026 | 4.3% |
| Dec 01, 2025 | 4.4% |
| Nov 01, 2025 | 4.5% |
Values as published by the source. Macro series are revised after first release; this table shows the most recent vintage. Saved dataset: JSON.