Historical U.S. Unemployment Rate by Year
This chart shows the U.S. unemployment rate for each December from 1929 to the present.
A line chart showing U.S. unemployment rates for the month of December from 1929 to 2025. The graph peaks sharply in the 1930s during the Great Depression at 24.9%, again in 1982 at 10.8%, and shows other notable rises in the 2009 and 2020 economic downturns. The most recent value in 2025 is 4.1%.
