This datasets provides average unemployment rates for the 12-month period ending in the month indicated. The rates shown are rolling averages and are not the official unemployment rates at a specific point in time.
Data is taken from The Current Population Survey (CPS). The Current Population Survey is a monthly survey of households conducted by the Bureau of Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It provides a body of data on the: labor force, employment, unemployment, and persons not in the labor force.
The Current Population Survey is unofficial and unpublished due to volatility in the sample and limitations of the data.
