According to the the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) monthly unemployment survey results for the month of September 2018 the current “Seasonally Adjusted” Unemployment Rate for September is 3.7% the lowest level since December 1969 when it was 3.5%. Unfortunately, by December 1970 unemployment was up to 6.1%.
The lowest level reached in the 1968-1969 timeframe was 3.4% where it hovered from September 1968 through May 1969. The only other time that unemployment was this low since they began tracking unemployment in 1948 was briefly in 1948 and again in 1951-53.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| 1965 | 4.9% | 5.1% | 4.7% | 4.8% | 4.6% | 4.6% | 4.4% | 4.4% | 4.3% | 4.2% | 4.1% | 4.0% |
| 1966 | 4.0% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 3.9% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 3.7% | 3.7% | 3.6% | 3.8% |
| 1967 | 3.9% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 3.9% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 4.0% | 3.9% | 3.8% |
| 1968 | 3.7% | 3.8% | 3.7% | 3.5% | 3.5% | 3.7% | 3.7% | 3.5% | 3.4% | 3.4% | 3.4% | 3.4% |
| 1969 | 3.4% | 3.4% | 3.4% | 3.4% | 3.4% | 3.5% | 3.5% | 3.5% | 3.7% | 3.7% | 3.5% | 3.5% |
| 1970 | 3.9% | 4.2% | 4.4% | 4.6% | 4.8% | 4.9% | 5.0% | 5.1% | 5.4% | 5.5% | 5.9% | 6.1% |
Key September Employment and Unemployment Numbers
- Adjusted U-3 Unemployment: 3.7% down from 3.9% in August, This is the lowest Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment rate since 1969.
- Unadjusted U-3 Unemployment: 3.6% down from 3.9% in August and 4.1% in July and 4.2% in June.
- Unadjusted U-6 Unemployment: 7.1% down from 7.4% in August and 7.9% in July, 8.1% in June, and below record lows of 7.3% in May, and 7.4% in April.
- Employment: 149.741 million up from 149.226 million originally reported for August.
- September Labor Force Participation Rate: 62.7% unchanged from August but down from July 62.9%.
See Current Unemployment Chart for more info.
Full Employment is Near – Differential between U3 and U6 nearing September 2006 Lows
Last month we incorrectly reported that the differential between the unadjusted U3 and U6 (reached by subtracting U3 from U6) was at 3.2% when in fact it was only at 3.5% so it still had a little way to go to reach the 3.2% low of September 2006. This month, although both U3 and U6 have fallen the differential remains at the 3.5% level.
See Current U-6 Unemployment Rate for more info.
Employment by Sector
The employment “bubble chart” gives us a good representation of how each sector of the economy is doing (employment wise). As we can see from the chart below [Read more…] about Unemployment Reaches Lowest Point Since 1969