US unemployment rate history since 1948
Every US recession in one line: the unemployment rate since 1948.
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What the data shows
- Unemployment rate: 3.8% in 1948, 4.3% in 2025. It peaked at 9.7% in 1982.
About this chart
The peaks mark recessions: the early 1980s, the 2008–09 financial crisis and the 2020 pandemic, when the monthly rate briefly hit its highest level since the data began. Yearly averages smooth out that one-month spike.
Data are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED.
The data
Source: FRED (UNRATE, Bureau of Labor Statistics), yearly average of the monthly US unemployment rate, %. Retrieved November 3, 2026.
| Date | Unemployment rate |
|---|---|
| 1948 | 3.8% |
| 1949 | 6.0% |
| 1950 | 5.2% |
| 1951 | 3.3% |
| 1952 | 3.0% |
| 1953 | 2.9% |
| 1954 | 5.6% |
| 1955 | 4.4% |
| 1956 | 4.1% |
| 1957 | 4.3% |
| 1958 | 6.8% |
| 1959 | 5.5% |
| 1960 | 5.5% |
| 1961 | 6.7% |
| 1962 | 5.6% |
| 1963 | 5.6% |
| 1964 | 5.2% |
| 1965 | 4.5% |
| 1966 | 3.8% |
| 1967 | 3.8% |
| 1968 | 3.6% |
| 1969 | 3.5% |
| 1970 | 5.0% |
| 1971 | 6.0% |
| 1972 | 5.6% |
| 1973 | 4.9% |
| 1974 | 5.6% |
| 1975 | 8.5% |
| 1976 | 7.7% |
| 1977 | 7.0% |
| 1978 | 6.1% |
| 1979 | 5.9% |
| 1980 | 7.2% |
| 1981 | 7.6% |
| 1982 | 9.7% |
| 1983 | 9.6% |
| 1984 | 7.5% |
| 1985 | 7.2% |
| 1986 | 7.0% |
| 1987 | 6.2% |
| 1988 | 5.5% |
| 1989 | 5.3% |
| 1990 | 5.6% |
| 1991 | 6.9% |
| 1992 | 7.5% |
| 1993 | 6.9% |
| 1994 | 6.1% |
| 1995 | 5.6% |
| 1996 | 5.4% |
| 1997 | 4.9% |
| 1998 | 4.5% |
| 1999 | 4.2% |
| 2000 | 4.0% |
| 2001 | 4.7% |
| 2002 | 5.8% |
| 2003 | 6.0% |
| 2004 | 5.5% |
| 2005 | 5.1% |
| 2006 | 4.6% |
| 2007 | 4.6% |
| 2008 | 5.8% |
| 2009 | 9.3% |
| 2010 | 9.6% |
| 2011 | 8.9% |
| 2012 | 8.1% |
| 2013 | 7.4% |
| 2014 | 6.2% |
| 2015 | 5.3% |
| 2016 | 4.9% |
| 2017 | 4.4% |
| 2018 | 3.9% |
| 2019 | 3.7% |
| 2020 | 8.1% |
| 2021 | 5.4% |
| 2022 | 3.6% |
| 2023 | 3.6% |
| 2024 | 4.0% |
| 2025 | 4.3% |
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Frequently asked questions
Where does this data come from?
FRED (UNRATE, Bureau of Labor Statistics), yearly average of the monthly US unemployment rate, %. Retrieved November 3, 2026. You can download the full table as a CSV from this page.
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