The US labor market at a glance: the most-watched official indicators in one place, pulled from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and refreshed automatically after every release. Pick a topic below for charts, history and plain-English explanations.
Next Employment Situation (jobs report): Friday, November 6, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. ET (data for October 2026). Source: BLS release schedule.
Next Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS): Tuesday, November 3, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET (data for September 2026). Source: BLS release schedule.
Jobs report: payrolls, unemployment and wages
Monthly job gains, the unemployment and U-6 rates, labor force participation, wage growth, real wages and the Employment Cost Index. Open the US jobs report page.
Month-over-month change in seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment, in thousands. Latest data point: Sep 2026 (preliminary). This chart updates automatically when the BLS publishes new figures. Source: BLS, Current Employment Statistics.
View the data table
| Period | Thousand jobs |
|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | 29 (p) |
| Aug 2026 | 133 (p) |
| Jul 2026 | -10 |
| Jun 2026 | 31 |
| May 2026 | 63 |
| Apr 2026 | 148 |
| Mar 2026 | 214 |
| Feb 2026 | -156 |
| Jan 2026 | 160 |
| Dec 2025 | -17 |
| Nov 2025 | 41 |
| Oct 2025 | -140 |
| Sep 2025 | 76 |
| Aug 2025 | -70 |
| Jul 2025 | 64 |
| Jun 2025 | -20 |
| May 2025 | 13 |
| Apr 2025 | 108 |
| Mar 2025 | 67 |
| Feb 2025 | 42 |
| Jan 2025 | -48 |
| Dec 2024 | 237 |
| Nov 2024 | 134 |
| Oct 2024 | 33 |
Labor demand: job openings, hires and quits
JOLTS shows how many jobs employers are trying to fill, how fast they hire and how often workers quit. See the JOLTS data.
Layoffs
Monthly layoffs and discharges, the layoff rate and the year-to-date total, plus our company layoff trackers. See US layoffs statistics.
Jobs by industry and workforce statistics
Which sectors are hiring or cutting, manufacturing and government jobs, and the size of the US labor force. See US jobs statistics.
Labor Market Data FAQ
Where does this labor market data come from?
All figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: the Employment Situation report (household and establishment surveys), the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey and the Employment Cost Index. They refresh automatically within hours of each release.
Which labor market indicators matter most?
Most analysts start with nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate, then look at wage growth, job openings, the quits rate and layoffs to judge whether the job market is getting tighter or looser.
How often is US labor market data released?
The jobs report and JOLTS are published monthly, and the Employment Cost Index quarterly. The next release dates are listed on this page.
Sources
- BLS, The Employment Situation
- BLS, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey
- BLS, Employment Cost Index