The seasonally-adjusted national unemployment rate is measured on a monthly basis in the United States. In April 2022, the national unemployment rate was at 3.6 percent. Seasonal adjustment is a statistical method of removing the seasonal component of a time series that is used when analyzing non-seasonal trends.
U.S. monthly unemployment rate
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics - the principle fact-finding agency for the U.S. Federal Government in labor economics and statistics - unemployment declined from 2010 to 2020. A trend of decreasing unemployment followed after a high in 2010 resulting from the 2008 financial crisis. However, after a smaller financial crisis, it fell to 5.3 in 2021.
Additional statistics from the BLS paint an interesting picture of unemployment in the United States. In February 2021, the states with the highest (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate were the District of Columbia and New Mexico followed by Alaska and California. Unemployment was the lowest in Utah and Nebraska at 2.1 percent each. Workers in the leisure and hospitality industry suffered the highest unemployment rate of any industry at 4.8 percent as of April 2022 (not seasonally adjusted).
Monthly unemployment rate in the United States from April 2021 to April 2022
(seasonally-adjusted)
Seasonal adjustment is a statistical method used to remove the seasonal component of a time series that is used when analyzing non-seasonal trends. It is normal to report un-adjusted data for current unemployment rates, as these reflect the actual current situation. Seasonally-adjusted data may be used for the longer term comparison. Unlike trend and cyclical components, seasonal components, theoretically, happen with similar magnitude during the same time period each year. The seasonal component of a series is often considered to be uninteresting in its own right and may cause the interpretation of a series to be ambiguous. By removing the seasonal component, it is easier to focus on other components.
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Bureau of Labor Statistics. (May 6, 2022). Monthly unemployment rate in the United States from April 2021 to April 2022 (seasonally-adjusted) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved May 19, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/273909/seasonally-adjusted-monthly-unemployment-rate-in-the-us/
Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Monthly unemployment rate in the United States from April 2021 to April 2022 (seasonally-adjusted)." Chart. May 6, 2022. Statista. Accessed May 19, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/273909/seasonally-adjusted-monthly-unemployment-rate-in-the-us/
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2022). Monthly unemployment rate in the United States from April 2021 to April 2022 (seasonally-adjusted). Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: May 19, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/273909/seasonally-adjusted-monthly-unemployment-rate-in-the-us/
Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Monthly Unemployment Rate in The United States from April 2021 to April 2022 (Seasonally-adjusted)." Statista, Statista Inc., 6 May 2022, https://www.statista.com/statistics/273909/seasonally-adjusted-monthly-unemployment-rate-in-the-us/
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monthly unemployment rate in the United States from April 2021 to April 2022 (seasonally-adjusted) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/273909/seasonally-adjusted-monthly-unemployment-rate-in-the-us/ (last visited May 19, 2022)