4.1%
−10 bp vs Sep
As of Oct 2026 · Updated monthly · Source: BLS Current Population Survey, via FRED · Feed checked Nov 14, 2026, 11:19 UTC
Next releaseDec 4, 202608:30 ET· Employment SituationFull calendar →
The desk's read · Oct 1, 2026 data
The BLS headline unemployment rate for October, via FRED, came in at 4.1 percent, down from 4.2 percent in September and below the 4.4 percent reading of a year earlier.
That ties the lowest level of the past 52 weeks, also hit in July, against a 52-week high of 4.5 percent set last November.
A jobless rate holding at the low end of its yearly range points to a labor market that remains tight even as payroll gains have cooled.
The next employment figures are due with the Employment Situation release on November 6 at 08:30 Eastern.
Written by the MarketIntelLabs Jobs & Labor desk from the figures on this page and approved by the Managing Editor on Nov 6, 2026. It is retired automatically when any figure on this page changes.
Previous
4.2%
Sep 2026
One year ago
4.4%
−30 bp since
52-week high
4.5%
Nov 2025
52-week low
4.1%
Jul 2026
| Date | Unemployment | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | 4.1% | −10 bp |
| Sep 2026 | 4.2% | +10 bp |
| Aug 2026 | 4.1% | unchanged |
| Jul 2026 | 4.1% | −10 bp |
| Jun 2026 | 4.2% | −10 bp |
| May 2026 | 4.3% | unchanged |
| Apr 2026 | 4.3% | unchanged |
| Mar 2026 | 4.3% | −10 bp |
| Feb 2026 | 4.4% | +10 bp |
| Jan 2026 | 4.3% | −10 bp |
| Dec 2025 | 4.4% | −10 bp |
| Nov 2025 | 4.5% | +10 bp |
Most recent first; change is versus the prior reading shown. Source: BLS Current Population Survey, via FRED.
BLS Current Population Survey, via FRED; figures as published, read by MarketIntelLabs.
The share of the labor force that is jobless, looking for work and available to take a job, from the BLS household survey published on the first Friday of each month in the Employment Situation report.
It is one half of the Fed's mandate. A rate rising half a point from its low has historically marked the start of every recession (the Sahm rule), which is why small moves in this number move markets more than the payroll count does.
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