Where can I find the unemployment rate for previous years?

The annual average unemployment rate for 1947 to the present can be accessed from our database via the following link:

Annual average unemployment rate, civilian labor force 16 years and over (percent)

Other major labor force series are shown as annual averages in the historical labor force tables (HTML or PDF).

Annual averages, and data from past months, can also be retrieved easily for any series in the monthly Employment Situation news release by using the menus displayed at www.bls.gov/cps/cpsatabs.htm. Please note that annual averages are only available for unadjusted (not seasonally adjusted) data.

 

Last Modified Date: January 22, 2013