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Unemployment rate decreased to 4.2 percent in September 2017

October 12, 2017

The unemployment rate decreased to 4.2 percent in September 2017, a decline of 0.7 percentage point from September 2016, when the rate was 4.9 percent.

Unemployment rates for major worker groups, September 2016 to September 2017
Characteristic September 2016 September 2017

Total, 16 years and older

4.9% 4.2%

16 to 19 years

15.9 12.9

Men, 20 years and older

4.6 3.9

Women, 20 years and older

4.4 3.9

White

4.4 3.7

Black or African American

8.3 7.0

Asian

3.9 3.7

Hispanic or Latino

6.4 5.1

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.9 percent), adult women (3.9 percent), teenagers (12.9 percent), Whites (3.7 percent), Blacks (7.0 percent), and Hispanics (5.1 percent) declined in September 2017, down from a year earlier. The rate for Asians (3.7 percent) showed little change from a year ago (3.9 percent).

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see “The Employment Situation — September 2017” (HTML) (PDF). People of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity may be of any race. More charts featuring Current Population Survey data are presented in Charts related to the latest “The Employment Situation” news release.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Unemployment rate decreased to 4.2 percent in September 2017 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/unemployment-rate-decreased-to-4-point-2-percent-in-september-2017.htm (visited March 29, 2024).

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