This tile is stale: the value shown is the last
one the source published, never a fabricated current number.
The full history
1948
high 13.20 · low 2.50 · now 4.10 · 12 recessions shaded 2026
How it is read
What it measures
labor level
Confidence
ROBUST : a primary official series, mechanically reported.
Reliability (DRS)
DRS 87: Reliability adjusted (small reduction). The producing agency (BLS) has operated without a Senate-confirmed commissioner since August 2025, when the prior commissioner was removed following routine data revisions, and has curtailed CPI and PPI collection in some areas, citing resources. An independent Department of Labor Inspector General review is underway. No data manipulation has been demonstrated, and the agency continues to publish unfavorable readings. This adjustment reflects elevated uncertainty and reduced sampling precision, not evidence of false data, and it lifts when leadership is confirmed and collection is restored. Sources: DOL OIG audit announcement (Sept 2025); BLS CPI collection-reduction notices (2025). BLS-produced; subject to the integrity-events DRS factor.
Where it comes from
FRED ↗Every number on this site is reproducible from this primary source.
What it read at past stress points
Lehman, Sep 2008
6.10
◆ WATCH
Q4-2018 selloff
3.90
· CALM
Curve inversion, Aug 2019
3.60
· CALM
COVID crash, Mar 2020
4.40
· CALM
Questions it helps answer
Work: Is the labor market holding, and how broadly?