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Unemployment Rate

Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate is a key measure of economic health. The number is a statistic that shows what percentage of the population is unemployed at any given time, based on the number of people who are actively looking for a job.

Top Questions Asked on ChaCha.com for Unemployment Rate

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  1. What is the current national unemployment rate?

    The National unemployment rate is 9.5%. WOW! ChaCha later!

  2. How is the unemployment rate calculated?

    Unemployment rate is computed solely from the Current Populat...

  3. Can you tell me in 1932 which countries had unemployment rates exceeding 30 percent?

    In 1932, 25% of all American workers and 37% of all nonfarm w...

  4. How is the unemployment rate determined?

    Data gathered by the US Census Bureau (working with the US De...

  5. What is the lowest unemployment rate ever in US history?

    The lowest unemployment rate was 2.50 and occurred in 1953-19...

  1. How is the unemployment rate calculated?

    Unemployment rate is computed solely from the Current Populat...

  2. What is the current national unemployment rate?

    The National unemployment rate is 9.5%. WOW! ChaCha later!

  3. How is the unemployment rate determined?

    Data gathered by the US Census Bureau (working with the US De...

  4. Can you tell me in 1932 which countries had unemployment rates exceeding 30 percent?

    In 1932, 25% of all American workers and 37% of all nonfarm w...

  5. Can you determine the unemployment rate for a month in which 125.4 million people were employed and 7.3 million people were unemployed?

    That's pretty easy! You need to find out what percentage of t...

  1. How is the unemployment rate determined?

    Data gathered by the US Census Bureau (working with the US De...

  2. What is the unemployment rate for the state of MO?

    According to CNN Money, MISSOURI'S unemployment rate is 6.7%....

  3. Whats the difference between jobless rate and unemployment rate?

    The jobless rate refers to the percent of the population that...

  4. What is the current U.S. Unemployment rate?

    Employment continued to decline in June (-467,000), and the u...

  5. What is the Federal unemployment rate?

    FUTA imposes a 6.2% tax (before credits) on the first $7,000 ...

Top Questions Asked on ChaCha Mobile for Unemployment Rate

In the Last:
Week | Month

  1. What was the national unemployment rate in 2008?

    The national unemployment rate in 2008 was 5.8% a 1.1% increa...

  2. What is the unemployment rate right now?

    As of the end of May, the national unemployment rate is at 9....

  3. What is the unemployment rate now?

    The National Unemployment rate for the US is now 9.7%. ChaCha!

  4. What country had the highest rate of unemployment in 1932?

    US had the highest at 23.6 followed by Latvia who had the hig...

  5. What is the current U.S. Unemployment rate?

    Employment continued to decline in June (-467,000), and the u...

  1. What state has the lowest unemployement rate?

    The unemployment rate for Wyoming, which is the lowest, is 3....

  2. What is the national unemployment rate?

    As of September 1, 2010, the national unemployment rate stand...

  3. What is unemployment rate in Germany in 2011?

    The unemployment rate in Germany was last reported at 6.6 per...

  4. What is the unemployment rate right now?

    As of the end of May, the national unemployment rate is at 9....

  5. What is the unemployment rate in the state of arkansas?

    The unemployment rate is at 7.1%(p) in the state of Arkansas ...

About Unemployment Rate

There are many factors to calculate the rate: it counts only those people over the age of 15 who are actively looking for a job, and it gathers a certain percentage of people to partake in the survey. The BLS or Bureau of Labor Statistics, plays a key role in crunching the numbers to provide a clear, nearly accurate number. But the unemployment rate as a measure of economic health has some limitations.

Because the unemployment index only measures those actively looking for employment, those who have given up on looking, sometimes known as the chronically unemployed, are not in the measurement. Therefore the number can actually underestimate the number of unemployed. In addition, the unemployment rate can jump when the economy starts to bounce back from a recession, as more people who were on the sidelines start to actively look for employment.

The current unemployment rate for the United States is 9.1% as of August, 2011.

Related Images

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Personal finance guru Suze Ormanspeaks during an event “taking power back from banks for consumers, and the fight against poverty” at the National Press Cllub January 12, 2012 in Washington, DC. Orman spoke about her “People First” movement on behalf of consumers to fight banks and their fees. Orman along with talk show host, author and liberal political commentator Tavis Smiley, and Princeton University Professor Dr. Cornel West will highlight their efforts to restore the nation’s prosperity as more and more Americans slip into poverty and unemployment.

US President Barack Obama arrives at Anrews Air Force Base in Maryland on January 11, 2012 to board Air Force One en route to Chicago to attend campaign events. Obama sought to strike an implicit contrast with his most likely general election foe Mitt Romney on Wednesday, imploring big businesses to bring home US jobs outsourced overseas. White House officials insist that Obama has not yet started to focus on his bid for a second term in November, but is instead concentrating every day on his job, which he sees as reviving the economy and cutting unemployment.

US President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign event in Washington, DC, on January 9, 2012. Obama's drive for a second term in the November 6 elections is weighed down by the sour US economy and unemployment that, by historical standards, is high -- though it slipped in December to 8.5 percent, the lowest since February 2009, the month after he took office.

MIAMI BEACH, FL - JANUARY 06: Pipefitter, Steve Andres, who was recently hired by Cool-Breeze Air Conditioning works on installing an air conditioner in a hotel on January 6, 2012 in Miami Beach, Florida. The most recent jobs report for the month of December indicated that 200,000 new jobs were created in the month, and the unemployment rate dropped to 8.5 percent.

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Unemployment Rate