Unemployment Rate

Share of the labor force actively seeking work but unable to find it. Below 4% signals an overheated labor market with wage pressure; above 6% indicates meaningful slack. The Fed targets maximum employment as part of its dual mandate, making this a key variable in every FOMC meeting.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed via ALFRED (Archival FRED). ALFRED archives each data point exactly as it was first published on release day — before any revision by the reporting agency. The figures shown here are what investors, traders, and policymakers were actually looking at when the data came out. Economic releases like payrolls, GDP, and inflation are often revised significantly in subsequent months; ALFRED lets you see the real-time picture.