• U.S.: Unemployment rate by age

The unemployment rate for people ages 16 to 24 in the United States in 2020 was 14.9 percent. However, this rate was much lower for people aged 45 and over, at 6.7 percent.

U.S. unemployment

The unemployment rate in the United States varies based on several factors, such as race, gender, and level of education. Puerto Ricans had the highest unemployment rate in 2020 out of any ethnicity, and people who had less than a high school diploma had the highest unemployment rate by education level. Alaska is consistently the state with the highest unemployment rate, although the El Centro, California metropolitan area was the area with the highest unemployment rate in the country in 2019. Additionally, in March 2021, service occupations had the highest unemployment rate in the United States

Unemployment rate

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is the agency that researches and calculates the unemployment rate in the United States. Unemployment rises during recessions, which causes the cost of social welfare programs to increase. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says unemployed people are those who are jobless, have looked for employment within the last four weeks, and are free to work.

Unemployment rate in the United States from 1990 to 2020, by age

Characteristic	16-24	25-29	30-34	35-44	45 and over
'20	14.9%	9.5%	7.4%	6.4%	6.7%
'19	8.4%	4.1%	3.3%	2.7%	2.7%
'18	8.6%	4.3%	3.5%	3%	2.9%
'17	9.2%	4.9%	4.2%	3.5%	3.2%
'16	10.4%	5.6%	4.5%	3.8%	3.6%
'15	11.6%	6%	4.9%	4.1%	3.7%
'14	13.4%	7.2%	5.9%	4.7%	4.4%
'13	15.5%	8.1%	6.7%	5.9%	5.5%
'12	16.2%	8.9%	7.6%	6.6%	6.1%
'11	17.3%	10.3%	8.6%	7.3%	6.8%
'10	18.4%	10.9%	9.2%	8.1%	7.4%
'09	17.6%	10.6%	9%	7.9%	6.9%
'08	12.8%	6.5%	5.2%	4.6%	4%
'07	10.5%	5.2%	4.1%	3.4%	3.2%
'06	10.5%	5.1%	4.2%	3.6%	3%
'05	11.3%	5.8%	4.5%	3.9%	3.4%
'04	11.8%	6.1%	5%	4.4%	3.8%
'03	12.4%	6.6%	5.5%	4.9%	4.1%
'02	12%	6.4%	5.4%	4.6%	4%
'01	10.6%	4.9%	4.3%	3.6%	3.1%
'00	9.3%	4.1%	3.3%	3%	2.5%
'99	9.9%	4.4%	3.6%	3%	2.6%
'98	10.4%	4.7%	4%	3.4%	2.7%
'97	11.3%	5.3%	4.2%	3.8%	3%
'96	12%	5.8%	4.7%	4.1%	3.4%
'95	12.1%	5.8%	5.1%	4.3%	3.5%
'94	12.5%	6.6%	5.5%	4.6%	4%
'93	13.4%	7.5%	6.4%	5.5%	4.6%
'92	14.2%	8.2%	7.2%	5.8%	5%
'91	13.4%	7.4%	6.4%	5.2%	4.3%
'90	11.2%	6%	5.1%	4.1%	3.4%

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Release date

January 2021

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

1990 to 2020

Age group

16 years and older

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