US unemployment surged in 2020, then fell

Monthly unemployment rate · January 2019–December 2024

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics · LNS14000000 · Retrieved 9 Sep 2026 · Original source and methodology

Seasonally adjusted · Historical snapshot ending December 2024

  1. 2019-01 · US unemployment: January 2019: 4.0% of the labor force was unemployed.
  2. 2020-04 · US unemployment: April 2020: 14.8%, the highest month in this displayed period.
  3. 2024-12 · US unemployment: December 2024: 4.1%. The spike had largely reversed.

Exact observations (CSV) · Attribution, method and limitations