The unemployment rate is a monthly measure of the percentage of people who are out of work and actively looking for jobs. It is a key indicator of the health of the job market and economy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) calculates the unemployment rate using a monthly survey called the Current Population Survey, which interviews people age 16 or older.
BLS collects a wide range of information from survey participants, including their employment status and details about their job search, such as where they looked for jobs, what types of jobs they are interested in, and how long they have been searching. In addition to the official unemployment rate, a number of other measures are available to track the state of the labor market. These include:
Structural unemployment: joblessness caused by a mismatch between the skills of those seeking work and the skills of those offering work, such as aerospace engineers who lost their jobs after the U.S. space program downsized in the 1970s. Frictional unemployment: workers who move between jobs because of changes in the economy rather than for economic reasons. Underemployment: people who want full-time work but have to settle for part-time jobs and people who are overqualified for their jobs and receive less pay than they would at a job that required more skill.
Each month, national summary statistics on the unemployment rate are published as a part of a news release titled The Employment Situation. More detailed information is also available in tables and other database tools.