U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsThe annual average unemployment rate for 1948 to the present is displayed below.
Other major labor force series are shown as annual averages on the page ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf/aat1.txt or as a pdf file at www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat1.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.
| Year | Annual |
|---|---|
| 1948 | 3.8 |
| 1949 | 5.9 |
| 1950 | 5.3 |
| 1951 | 3.3 |
| 1952 | 3.0 |
| 1953 | 2.9 |
| 1954 | 5.5 |
| 1955 | 4.4 |
| 1956 | 4.1 |
| 1957 | 4.3 |
| 1958 | 6.8 |
| 1959 | 5.5 |
| 1960 | 5.5 |
| 1961 | 6.7 |
| 1962 | 5.5 |
| 1963 | 5.7 |
| 1964 | 5.2 |
| 1965 | 4.5 |
| 1966 | 3.8 |
| 1967 | 3.8 |
| 1968 | 3.6 |
| 1969 | 3.5 |
| 1970 | 4.9 |
| 1971 | 5.9 |
| 1972 | 5.6 |
| 1973 | 4.9 |
| 1974 | 5.6 |
| 1975 | 8.5 |
| 1976 | 7.7 |
| 1977 | 7.1 |
| 1978 | 6.1 |
| 1979 | 5.8 |
| 1980 | 7.1 |
| 1981 | 7.6 |
| 1982 | 9.7 |
| 1983 | 9.6 |
| 1984 | 7.5 |
| 1985 | 7.2 |
| 1986 | 7.0 |
| 1987 | 6.2 |
| 1988 | 5.5 |
| 1989 | 5.3 |
| 1990 | 5.6 |
| 1991 | 6.8 |
| 1992 | 7.5 |
| 1993 | 6.9 |
| 1994 | 6.1 |
| 1995 | 5.6 |
| 1996 | 5.4 |
| 1997 | 4.9 |
| 1998 | 4.5 |
| 1999 | 4.2 |
| 2000 | 4.0 |
| 2001 | 4.7 |
| 2002 | 5.8 |
| 2003 | 6.0 |
| 2004 | 5.5 |
| 2005 | 5.1 |
| 2006 | 4.6 |
| 2007 | 4.6 |
| 2008 | 5.8 |
| 2009 | 9.3 |
| 2010 | 9.6 |
Last Modified Date: February 3, 2011