Current Unemployment Rate and Other Jobs Report Findings
The current unemployment rate is 4.2%.
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Updated on July 1.
Initial jobless claims went down for the week ending June 21, according to the report released on June 26.
Why it matters: The weekly jobless claims, or initial claims, are the number of unemployment insurance claims filed in the past week. They provide an indicator of the strength — or weakness — of the labor market.
The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2% in May, compared to April, according to the jobs report released on June 6 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Here are some other takeaways from the report:
Job gains came in above projections for May with a total of 139,000. The consensus estimated monthly expectation was a 125,000 increase, according to Morningstar, an investing firm.
Employment went up in health care, leisure and hospitality and social assistance sectors.
For the fourth month in a row, employment went down in the federal government due to the recent mass federal workforce cuts by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Employees on paid leave or receiving severance are considered employed, which means the full effect of the cuts are yet to be reflected in the report.
Average hourly earnings of all private nonfarm employee payrolls rose by 3.9% over the past 12 months from $34.89 per hour to $36.24 per hour in May 2025.
What the latest job market data means for you
The labor market is solid, as reflected by modest wage and higher-than-expected employment, but momentum has cooled compared to previous years.
Wage growth remains above inflation growth, which means consumers are more likely to weather price increases — that is, unless there are price shocks. The effect of tariffs on prices haven’t fully set in so it’s unclear how that might impact inflation growth.
There are some vulnerabilities in the job market continuing to trend, including layoffs in sectors like retail and wholesale, as well as a reduction to the previous month’s job gains numbers.
For now, workers should temper their optimism with caution as there is still much uncertainty in the broader economy.
What a NerdWallet expert says
Elizabeth Renter, economist at NerdWallet, says the jobs report shows continued cooling in the labor market, but it’s not “fully on-ice.”
“Fewer jobs are being added, hiring continues to slow and workers aren’t quitting their jobs with expectations of finding another quickly. This hard data continues to confirm what we’ve heard from consumer sentiment (“soft”) data about the labor market — that there are fewer jobs available, and that folks are less optimistic about their ability to hold onto their current role. That said, the unemployment rate remains steady and layoffs aren’t climbing.”
What you can do next
Learn more about how the economy is doing
Explore ways to track monthly expenses
Find out what to do next if you’re laid off
What is the current unemployment rate?
The current unemployment rate is 4.2% for May, unchanged from April. The rate is higher than unemployment rates during 2023 and 2024.
Is unemployment rising or falling?
The unemployment rate has risen since hitting a 50-year low of 3.4% in April 2023. Since May 2024, the unemployment rate has stayed between 4% and 4.2%.
The unemployment rate went up by 0.1 percentage point in January, February and March, but was unchanged in April.
» MORE: What is the minimum wage?
Are wages increasing?
Wage growth is moderating from what it was a year ago but is still higher than it was pre-pandemic, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The three-month moving average of median hourly wage growth — when measured over the previous 12 months — has slowed from its peak in the summer of 2022.
For March, the three-month wage growth percent change was 4.3%, which is the same as February’s three-month moving average rate.
The 12-month moving average for all workers — part-time and full-time — was 4.6%, the same as February. By comparison, the percent change for March 2024 from a year prior was 5.2%. If you look back even further, at the percent change for March 2020 from a year prior, the rate was 3.7%.
» MORE: What is the minimum wage?
Below, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta data for March shows a steady decline in the three-month moving average of wage growth compared to the peak in June 2022 and July 2022.
More key jobs data and what it means
(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images News via Getty Images)