OECD monthly unemployment rate in United States

The OECD harmonised unemployment rate in United States was 4.2% in September 2026.

Monthly unemployment rate (OECD harmonised) % of the labour force aged 15 and over, seasonally adjusted Data: January 2000 to September 2026 Source: OECD

United States, September 2026 4.2% % of the labour force aged 15 and over, seasonally adjusted

Change from August 2026 +0.1percentage points August 2026: 4.1%

Median of OECD (38 countries), September 2026 5.9% Middle value of 33 countries

Position in September 2026 26th of 36 See the full ranking

OECD monthly unemployment rate in United States over time

From

United States

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% of the labour force aged 15 and over, seasonally adjusted. Source: OECD Data Explorer. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.

Monthly unemployment rate (OECD harmonised) (% of the labour force aged 15 and over, seasonally adjusted), January 2017 to September 2026 – most recent 40 periods; the CSV has all of them
Period	United States
September 2026	4.2%
August 2026	4.1%
July 2026	4.1%
June 2026	4.2%
May 2026	4.3%
April 2026	4.3%
March 2026	4.3%
February 2026	4.4%
January 2026	4.3%
December 2025	4.4%
November 2025	4.5%
September 2025	4.4%
August 2025	4.3%
July 2025	4.3%
June 2025	4.1%
May 2025	4.3%
April 2025	4.2%
March 2025	4.2%
February 2025	4.2%
January 2025	4.0%
December 2024	4.1%
November 2024	4.2%
October 2024	4.1%
September 2024	4.1%
August 2024	4.2%
July 2024	4.2%
June 2024	4.1%
May 2024	3.9%
April 2024	3.9%
March 2024	3.9%
February 2024	3.9%
January 2024	3.7%
December 2023	3.8%
November 2023	3.7%
October 2023	3.9%
September 2023	3.7%
August 2023	3.7%
July 2023	3.5%
June 2023	3.6%
May 2023	3.6%

A dash means no value was published for that period.

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In short

That is a change of +0.1 percentage points from 4.1% in August 2026.
Since November 2025, when it was 4.5%, the figure has changed by −0.3 percentage points.
Among the 36 countries with data for September 2026, United States has the 26th highest value.

More for United States

All statistics for United States

Monthly unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) 4.2% September 2026 · Eurostat Monthly youth unemployment 9.9% September 2026 · Eurostat ILO estimate of the unemployment rate 4.2% 2025 · ILOSTAT ILO estimate of youth unemployment 9.3% 2025 · ILOSTAT Labour force participation 61.7% 2025 · ILOSTAT Women's labour force participation 56.3% 2025 · ILOSTAT

Source and dates

Original producer: OECD, Infra-annual Labour Statistics
Distributed by: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Dataset or series code: OECD.SDD.TPS,DSD_LFS@DF_IALFS_UNE_M,1.0 · dataset details · view at source
Selection: .UNE_LF_M...Y._T.Y_GE15..M
Observation period: January 2000 to September 2026 for United States
Provider update: Not stated by the provider
Retrieved: 9 November 2026
Published here: 9 November 2026
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Attribution: Source: OECD Data Explorer, original data: OECD, Infra-annual Labour Statistics

How United States compares in September 2026 Neighbouring positions among 36 countries with a value for September 2026.

23 Australia 4.7%
24 Hungary 4.6%
25 Croatia 4.3%
26 United States 4.2%
27 Germany 4.1%
28 Netherlands 4.0%
29 Slovenia 3.6%

See all countries

What this measures

Unemployed people aged 15 and over as a share of the labour force, each month, seasonally adjusted, using OECD harmonised definitions based on ILO guidelines. Covers OECD members and selected other economies.

Population covered: Labour force aged 15 and over

Full source details and dates

CSV for United States

The link always shows the latest published figures.