ECONDEX

Economic and development data for every country, explained with the numbers checked.

US unemployment rate edges down to 4.1% in October 2026

The rate was 4.2% in September 2026, and the range over the latest 12 readings was 4.1% to 4.5%.

Unemployment rate, October 2026. Published .

Line chart of unemployment rate from 2021 to 2026. The latest reading, for October 2026, is 4.1%. Over the period shown the series ranges from 3.4% to 4.5%.

The US unemployment rate was 4.1% in October 2026.1

The previous reading, for September 2026, was 4.2%.2 The latest figure is down 0.1 percentage points from the previous reading.3

Over the latest 12 readings, the range was 4.1% to 4.5%.4 The October 2026 figure of 4.1% matches the bottom of that range.14

The numbers behind this article

Each figure was calculated in code from the official series. The small numbers in the text point to these lines.

  1. The US unemployment rate was 4.1% in October 2026.
  2. The previous reading, for September 2026, was 4.2%.
  3. The latest figure is down 0.1 percentage points from the previous reading.
  4. Over the latest 12 readings, the range was 4.1% to 4.5%.

Sources

Drafted with AI (claude-sonnet-5-5) from the figures above and checked by automated tests and a human editor. Spotted a mistake? Tell us or read the corrections policy.