Employment–population ratio, 59.7 percent; unemployment rate, 4.7 percent in May

In May 2016, there were 151 million employed people among the 253 million that made up the civilian noninstitutional population. The employment–population ratio was 59.7 percent. There were 7.4 million unemployed people in May. The civilian labor force (the number of employed plus the number of unemployed) was 158 million. The unemployment rate (the number of unemployed divided by the labor force, expressed as a percentage) was 4.7 percent.

View Chart Data Employment–population ratio and unemployment rate, January 2006–May 2016 Month Employment–population ratio Unemployment rate Jan 2006 62.9 4.7 Feb 2006 63.0 4.8 Mar 2006 63.1 4.7 Apr 2006 63.0 4.7 May 2006 63.1 4.6 Jun 2006 63.1 4.6 Jul 2006 63.0 4.7 Aug 2006 63.1 4.7 Sep 2006 63.1 4.5 Oct 2006 63.3 4.4 Nov 2006 63.3 4.5 Dec 2006 63.4 4.4 Jan 2007 63.3 4.6 Feb 2007 63.3 4.5 Mar 2007 63.3 4.4 Apr 2007 63.0 4.5 May 2007 63.0 4.4 Jun 2007 63.0 4.6 Jul 2007 62.9 4.7 Aug 2007 62.7 4.6 Sep 2007 62.9 4.7 Oct 2007 62.7 4.7 Nov 2007 62.9 4.7 Dec 2007 62.7 5.0 Jan 2008 62.9 5.0 Feb 2008 62.8 4.9 Mar 2008 62.7 5.1 Apr 2008 62.7 5.0 May 2008 62.5 5.4 Jun 2008 62.4 5.6 Jul 2008 62.2 5.8 Aug 2008 62.0 6.1 Sep 2008 61.9 6.1 Oct 2008 61.7 6.5 Nov 2008 61.4 6.8 Dec 2008 61.0 7.3 Jan 2009 60.6 7.8 Feb 2009 60.3 8.3 Mar 2009 59.9 8.7 Apr 2009 59.8 9.0 May 2009 59.6 9.4 Jun 2009 59.4 9.5 Jul 2009 59.3 9.5 Aug 2009 59.1 9.6 Sep 2009 58.7 9.8 Oct 2009 58.5 10.0 Nov 2009 58.6 9.9 Dec 2009 58.3 9.9 Jan 2010 58.5 9.8 Feb 2010 58.5 9.8 Mar 2010 58.5 9.9 Apr 2010 58.7 9.9 May 2010 58.6 9.6 Jun 2010 58.5 9.4 Jul 2010 58.5 9.4 Aug 2010 58.6 9.5 Sep 2010 58.5 9.5 Oct 2010 58.3 9.4 Nov 2010 58.2 9.8 Dec 2010 58.3 9.3 Jan 2011 58.3 9.1 Feb 2011 58.4 9.0 Mar 2011 58.4 9.0 Apr 2011 58.4 9.1 May 2011 58.3 9.0 Jun 2011 58.2 9.1 Jul 2011 58.2 9.0 Aug 2011 58.3 9.0 Sep 2011 58.4 9.0 Oct 2011 58.4 8.8 Nov 2011 58.6 8.6 Dec 2011 58.6 8.5 Jan 2012 58.4 8.3 Feb 2012 58.5 8.3 Mar 2012 58.6 8.2 Apr 2012 58.5 8.2 May 2012 58.5 8.2 Jun 2012 58.6 8.2 Jul 2012 58.5 8.2 Aug 2012 58.4 8.1 Sep 2012 58.7 7.8 Oct 2012 58.8 7.8 Nov 2012 58.7 7.7 Dec 2012 58.6 7.9 Jan 2013 58.5 8.0 Feb 2013 58.6 7.7 Mar 2013 58.5 7.5 Apr 2013 58.6 7.6 May 2013 58.6 7.5 Jun 2013 58.6 7.5 Jul 2013 58.7 7.3 Aug 2013 58.7 7.3 Sep 2013 58.7 7.3 Oct 2013 58.3 7.2 Nov 2013 58.6 6.9 Dec 2013 58.6 6.7 Jan 2014 58.8 6.6 Feb 2014 58.8 6.7 Mar 2014 59.0 6.7 Apr 2014 58.9 6.2 May 2014 58.9 6.2 Jun 2014 59.0 6.1 Jul 2014 59.0 6.2 Aug 2014 59.0 6.2 Sep 2014 59.1 6.0 Oct 2014 59.3 5.7 Nov 2014 59.2 5.8 Dec 2014 59.2 5.6 Jan 2015 59.3 5.7 Feb 2015 59.3 5.5 Mar 2015 59.3 5.5 Apr 2015 59.3 5.4 May 2015 59.4 5.5 Jun 2015 59.3 5.3 Jul 2015 59.3 5.3 Aug 2015 59.4 5.1 Sep 2015 59.3 5.1 Oct 2015 59.3 5.0 Nov 2015 59.4 5.0 Dec 2015 59.5 5.0 Jan 2016 59.6 4.9 Feb 2016 59.8 4.9 Mar 2016 59.9 5.0 Apr 2016 59.7 5.0 May 2016 59.7 4.7

The employment–population ratio, at 59.7 percent, was unchanged in May. The unemployment rate, at 4.7 percent, was 0.3 percentage point lower than a month earlier. A year earlier, in May 2015, the employment–population ratio was 59.4 percent and the unemployment rate was 5.5 percent.

During late 2006 and early 2007, the unemployment rate was at its recent low, 4.4 percent. In October 2009, the rate was 10.0 percent. In December 2006, the employment–population ratio was 63.4 percent, its recent high. During 2010 and 2011, the ratio reached its recent low, 58.2 percent.

These data are from the Current Population Survey and are seasonally adjusted. For more information about employment and unemployment in May, see "The Employment Situation — May 2016" (HTML) (PDF). For more charts featuring Current Population Survey data, see Charts related to the latest "The Employment Situation" news release. The civilian noninstitutional population is all persons 16 years of age and older residing in the 50 states and the District of Columbia who do not live in institutions (for example, correctional facilities, long-term care hospitals, and nursing homes) and who are not on active duty in the Armed Forces.

SUGGESTED CITATION Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Employment–population ratio, 59.7 percent; unemployment rate, 4.7 percent in May on the Internet at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/employment-population-ratio-59-point-7-percent-unemployment-rate-4-point-7-percent-in-may.htm (visited September 27, 2020).