The unemployment rate was at 4.4 percent, and the quantity of unemployed individuals was at 7.6 million in September 2025. These measures were higher compared to data from a year before when the unemployment rate was 4.1 percent and the number of unemployed individuals was at 6.9 million.
Across the major worker demographics, unemployment rose in September for adult women (4.2 percent) and for Asians (4.4 percent). In contrast, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.0 percent), teenagers (13.2 percent), Whites (3.8 percent), Blacks (7.5 percent), and Hispanics (5.5 percent) showed little to no month-to-month movement.
The count of long-term unemployed individuals—those out of work for 27 weeks or longer—remained largely unchanged at 1.8 million in September. These workers made up 23.6 percent of all unemployed people.
The labor force participation rate held steady at 62.4 percent, with minimal change both over the month and over the past year. Similarly, the employment-population ratio stayed close to its previous level at 59.7 percent, though it was 0.4 percentage point lower than it had been a year earlier.
Roughly 4.6 million people were employed part time for economic reasons in September, a figure that showed little variation. These workers wanted full-time roles but were limited to part-time schedules either because their hours had been reduced or because they could not secure full-time employment.
The number of people outside the labor force who still expressed a desire for a job fell by 421,000 in September, reaching 5.9 million. They were not classified as unemployed because they had not actively searched for work within the four weeks before the survey or were not available to accept a job.
Within this group, the number of people marginally attached to the labor force held at 1.7 million. These individuals wanted work, were available, and had looked for a job sometime during the previous 12 months but not within the four weeks preceding the survey. The subset known as discouraged workers—those who believed no suitable jobs were available—also showed little change, remaining at 557,000.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-labor-force-participation-rate.htm
https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/employment-population-ratio.htm