Unemployment Rate
Unemployment Rate
Unemployment Rate
Monthly US unemployment rate providing both the headline (U3) and broad (U6) measures, each in seasonally adjusted and unadjusted form — four rate variants in a single call. Sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) via FRED, this dataset is a dedicated, granular complement to the unemployment fields in LABOR_MARKET_MONTHLY, adding the seasonal adjustment comparison that analysts use to distinguish underlying trend from calendar-driven noise. Date field reflects the first day of the reference month.
Fields: seasonallyAdjustedPercent · seasonallyUnadjustedPercent · u6SeasonallyAdjustedPercent · u6SeasonallyUnadjustedPercent · frequency
Units: all rate fields in percentage points (e.g. 4.3 = 4.3%). frequency is always monthly for this endpoint.
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Use Cases
Fed policy and rate cut expectations modeling, labor market slack analysis (U3 vs. U6 divergence as a hidden unemployment signal), seasonal adjustment comparison for distinguishing trend vs. noise, recession monitoring, consumer sector earnings context, cross-referencing with LABOR_MARKET_WEEKLY initial claims for a leading vs. lagging indicator pair, wage inflation context (tight labor market = upward wage pressure), and alert triggers on U3 or U6 threshold breaches.
Highlights
While the headline U3 rate is the number markets react to, the UNEMPLOYMENT_RATE dataset's real analytical value lies in the four-way breakdown it provides — seasonally adjusted and unadjusted variants for both U3 and U6. The gap between adjusted and unadjusted reveals calendar distortions; the gap between U3 and U6 reveals hidden slack in the form of discouraged workers and involuntary part-timers. Together these four readings give a more complete picture of true labor market tightness than any single rate can provide, and pair naturally with the wage growth and payroll fields in LABOR_MARKET_MONTHLY for a full employment picture.
Provider
Methods
https://api.blueskyapi.com/v1/data/CORE/UNEMPLOYMENT_RATEhttps://api.blueskyapi.com/v1/data/CORE/UNEMPLOYMENT_RATE/:countryhttps://api.blueskyapi.com/v1/data/CORE/UNEMPLOYMENT_RATE/:country/::frequency
Time Series Query Parameters
You can use any time series query parameters with this dataset.
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Response Attributes
| Key | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
country* key | string | |
date* index | string | |
frequency* subkey | string | |
| seasonallyAdjustedPercent | number, null | |
| seasonallyUnadjustedPercent | number, null | |
| u6SeasonallyAdjustedPercent | number, null | |
| u6SeasonallyUnadjustedPercent | number, null |
* required
| Field | Type | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| date | string | YYYY-MM-DD | First day of reference month |
| country | string | — | Country code (e.g. US) |
| frequency | string | — | Data frequency (always monthly) |
| seasonallyAdjustedPercent | float | Percentage points | U3 unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted |
| seasonallyUnadjustedPercent | float | Percentage points | U3 unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted |
| u6SeasonallyAdjustedPercent | float | Percentage points | U6 broad unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted |
| u6SeasonallyUnadjustedPercent | float | Percentage points | U6 broad unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted |
| id | string | — | Dataset identifier (UNEMPLOYMENT_RATE) |
| key | string | — | Partition key (US) |
| subkey | string | — | Frequency sub-partition (monthly) |
| updated | float | Unix ms | Timestamp of last data refresh |
Disclaimer
Unemployment rate data is sourced from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). This data is provided for informational purposes only and is subject to the terms of use of the respective data providers. Blue-Sky Data Platform LLC makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the data and accepts no liability for decisions made in reliance upon it. Users are responsible for ensuring their use of this data complies with applicable provider terms and licensing requirements.
Attribution
Unemployment rate data: US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). Key FRED series: UNRATE (U3 seasonally adjusted), UNRATENSA (U3 unadjusted), U6RATE (U6 seasonally adjusted), U6RATENSA (U6 unadjusted).