United States Unemployment Rate

The US unemployment rate edged down to 4.1% in June 2025 from 4.2% in May, defying market expectations of a rise to 4.3%. The rate has held within a narrow 4.0%–4.2% band since May 2024, signaling broad labor market stability. The number of unemployed dropped by 222,000 to 7.015 million, while employment rose modestly by 93,000 to 163.366 million. However, the overall labor force shrank by 130,000 to 170.380 million. The labor force participation rate slipped by 0.1 percentage points to 62.3%, its lowest since December 2022, and the employment-population ratio held steady at 59.7%, the weakest reading since January 2022. Meanwhile, the broader U-6 unemployment rate—which includes discouraged workers and those employed part-time for economic reasons—fell slightly to 7.7% from 7.8% in May.