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Reasons for unemployment in May 2018

June 06, 2018

In May 2018, almost half of the unemployed had lost their jobs or completed temporary jobs; 33.3 percent were not on temporary layoff, and 13.0 percent were on temporary layoff.

 Percent distribution of the unemployed by reason for unemployment, January 1995–May 2018
Month

People who lost their job or completed
temporary jobs on temporary layoff

People who lost their job or completed
temporary jobs not on temporary layoff
Job leavers Reentrants New entrants

Jan 1995

13.6% 34.4% 9.6% 34.6% 7.8%

Feb 1995

14.3 32.8 11.0 34.1 7.8

Mar 1995

14.2 32.9 11.2 33.6 8.1

Apr 1995

13.8 31.5 10.8 36.0 7.9

May 1995

13.3 34.3 11.7 33.2 7.5

Jun 1995

14.4 31.9 11.5 34.2 7.9

Jul 1995

14.8 32.2 11.1 34.3 7.6

Aug 1995

14.5 32.0 11.4 34.2 7.9

Sep 1995

12.2 33.7 11.5 34.4 8.2

Oct 1995

14.1 33.9 10.3 34.1 7.6

Nov 1995

14.1 33.3 11.2 33.5 7.7

Dec 1995

13.6 33.3 12.2 33.0 7.9

Jan 1996

14.9 32.8 11.0 33.1 8.2

Feb 1996

14.4 34.1 10.3 33.3 7.9

Mar 1996

13.9 33.7 10.7 33.9 7.7

Apr 1996

14.6 34.5 9.8 33.5 7.5

May 1996

15.1 31.2 9.2 37.1 7.4

Jun 1996

14.2 33.4 9.8 34.1 8.4

Jul 1996

13.4 32.6 10.2 35.3 8.5

Aug 1996

13.2 31.1 11.0 36.6 8.2

Sep 1996

13.9 31.9 11.2 35.0 8.0

Oct 1996

13.6 31.4 11.6 35.3 8.0

Nov 1996

13.7 32.1 11.7 34.7 7.9

Dec 1996

13.2 30.5 12.2 35.7 8.5

Jan 1997

13.3 31.7 12.0 34.8 8.2

Feb 1997

13.5 31.0 11.2 35.7 8.6

Mar 1997

14.3 30.7 11.2 35.1 8.7

Apr 1997

14.3 30.4 11.3 35.6 8.4

May 1997

13.9 30.3 11.9 35.1 8.7

Jun 1997

13.7 32.0 11.9 34.3 8.0

Jul 1997

13.2 30.8 12.1 35.0 8.9

Aug 1997

12.6 32.2 13.4 33.4 8.3

Sep 1997

12.9 31.8 12.9 34.1 8.4

Oct 1997

15.5 29.9 11.5 34.9 8.2

Nov 1997

12.7 32.9 10.7 35.2 8.4

Dec 1997

15.0 31.9 11.2 33.6 8.3

Jan 1998

13.5 31.0 12.7 34.8 8.0

Feb 1998

13.3 31.4 12.3 34.6 8.5

Mar 1998

15.5 30.6 11.3 34.0 8.6

Apr 1998

12.1 33.1 10.4 35.5 8.9

May 1998

13.3 32.7 12.1 33.6 8.3

Jun 1998

13.6 31.8 12.0 33.7 9.0

Jul 1998

15.0 30.7 12.6 33.6 8.2

Aug 1998

14.3 31.0 11.8 35.1 7.9

Sep 1998

14.3 31.2 12.1 34.9 7.5

Oct 1998

13.9 30.9 11.7 34.4 9.1

Nov 1998

13.6 32.0 11.1 35.0 8.3

Dec 1998

14.2 32.5 11.8 33.3 8.1

Jan 1999

14.6 30.9 12.1 33.4 8.9

Feb 1999

14.0 30.7 12.3 34.4 8.6

Mar 1999

14.7 30.3 13.1 34.4 7.5

Apr 1999

14.1 30.9 13.4 33.7 7.9

May 1999

13.9 31.4 13.4 34.3 7.0

Jun 1999

14.8 29.8 14.2 33.9 7.4

Jul 1999

14.2 30.9 13.1 34.0 7.8

Aug 1999

14.8 30.3 13.5 33.5 7.9

Sep 1999

15.1 28.6 13.4 34.1 8.7

Oct 1999

14.0 29.7 13.1 34.5 8.8

Nov 1999

14.9 28.9 14.5 33.6 8.1

Dec 1999

13.8 28.9 14.1 35.7 7.5

Jan 2000

13.1 30.9 13.4 35.7 6.9

Feb 2000

14.5 31.0 13.1 34.1 7.2

Mar 2000

14.2 29.6 14.2 34.5 7.5

Apr 2000

13.0 29.2 15.2 35.2 7.5

May 2000

15.1 27.6 13.6 35.6 8.1

Jun 2000

17.4 26.2 12.3 36.5 7.6

Jul 2000

15.1 28.3 14.3 34.8 7.6

Aug 2000

15.7 29.3 13.3 33.3 8.5

Sep 2000

15.5 30.0 14.2 32.7 7.5

Oct 2000

14.8 29.5 14.7 33.8 7.2

Nov 2000

15.7 28.6 13.8 34.5 7.4

Dec 2000

17.1 28.8 12.5 33.0 8.6

Jan 2001

16.9 29.4 13.6 32.6 7.4

Feb 2001

15.9 32.0 13.7 31.9 6.5

Mar 2001

16.5 33.2 13.3 30.9 6.2

Apr 2001

16.7 32.7 12.1 31.2 7.3

May 2001

17.1 33.5 13.1 28.8 7.5

Jun 2001

15.7 35.3 12.5 29.3 7.2

Jul 2001

15.3 35.9 12.3 29.7 6.8

Aug 2001

15.2 34.2 12.6 31.2 6.9

Sep 2001

16.4 34.8 11.8 30.2 6.7

Oct 2001

17.0 38.4 11.3 27.2 6.2

Nov 2001

14.8 40.9 10.6 27.5 6.2

Dec 2001

13.5 40.4 10.9 28.9 6.2

Jan 2002

14.2 40.9 10.9 27.9 5.9

Feb 2002

13.8 40.7 10.8 28.4 6.2

Mar 2002

13.2 40.1 10.7 29.5 6.5

Apr 2002

13.3 40.8 11.6 28.1 6.2

May 2002

13.4 41.7 10.6 28.4 5.9

Jun 2002

12.8 42.4 9.9 28.4 6.5

Jul 2002

14.1 41.1 10.0 28.4 6.5

Aug 2002

14.0 41.0 10.2 27.5 7.3

Sep 2002

12.9 42.6 9.7 28.3 6.5

Oct 2002

13.1 42.8 10.3 28.0 5.7

Nov 2002

12.7 42.9 9.5 27.9 6.9

Dec 2002

12.9 42.3 10.1 28.5 6.2

Jan 2003

12.9 42.2 9.8 28.0 7.0

Feb 2003

13.2 42.8 9.0 28.2 6.8

Mar 2003

13.2 42.0 9.5 28.0 7.3

Apr 2003

12.8 41.7 9.3 28.9 7.2

May 2003

13.9 42.7 8.6 27.8 7.0

Jun 2003

12.5 41.5 9.4 29.4 7.2

Jul 2003

12.5 42.9 8.8 28.3 7.5

Aug 2003

12.4 43.6 8.8 27.9 7.3

Sep 2003

12.9 42.8 9.4 27.1 7.7

Oct 2003

12.6 42.5 9.2 28.5 7.3

Nov 2003

12.5 42.0 10.7 27.9 6.9

Dec 2003

12.6 41.5 9.4 28.2 8.3

Jan 2004

12.2 39.8 9.7 30.3 8.0

Feb 2004

12.9 39.5 10.1 29.4 8.2

Mar 2004

12.0 41.6 10.2 28.8 7.4

Apr 2004

12.2 41.0 10.3 28.5 8.0

May 2004

11.6 39.4 10.2 30.0 8.7

Jun 2004

12.1 37.8 11.1 31.2 7.9

Jul 2004

12.9 39.1 11.1 28.2 8.7

Aug 2004

12.5 37.6 11.0 30.0 8.8

Sep 2004

11.9 39.0 10.3 30.0 8.8

Oct 2004

11.7 39.0 10.3 29.9 9.1

Nov 2004

12.0 39.1 11.1 29.0 8.8

Dec 2004

12.0 38.5 11.5 29.1 8.8

Jan 2005

12.4 39.3 10.5 29.9 8.0

Feb 2005

12.0 36.7 11.9 30.0 9.4

Mar 2005

12.2 36.4 11.3 30.9 9.2

Apr 2005

10.8 36.6 11.8 30.9 10.0

May 2005

11.5 35.7 12.2 31.3 9.3

Jun 2005

12.9 35.6 11.4 31.4 8.7

Jul 2005

12.6 35.5 11.0 32.4 8.5

Aug 2005

12.3 34.9 11.3 33.0 8.5

Sep 2005

13.6 35.8 11.4 31.2 8.0

Oct 2005

12.5 35.3 12.0 31.6 8.6

Nov 2005

11.9 34.6 12.1 32.5 8.9

Dec 2005

12.8 35.0 11.2 32.4 8.7

Jan 2006

12.3 35.3 11.7 32.1 8.7

Feb 2006

12.2 34.1 12.0 31.9 9.8

Mar 2006

13.0 35.3 11.8 30.9 9.0

Apr 2006

12.4 36.8 12.0 30.5 8.3

May 2006

13.3 36.4 12.3 30.6 7.4

Jun 2006

14.4 33.7 11.8 30.9 9.2

Jul 2006

13.1 33.1 11.8 33.1 8.9

Aug 2006

12.7 33.9 12.1 32.2 9.1

Sep 2006

12.7 34.0 11.4 33.0 8.8

Oct 2006

14.1 32.3 11.6 33.5 8.5

Nov 2006

14.3 33.2 11.4 32.5 8.6

Dec 2006

14.3 33.6 11.6 31.9 8.6

Jan 2007

14.6 34.0 11.2 31.4 8.9

Feb 2007

15.0 34.1 12.2 30.1 8.7

Mar 2007

12.7 34.5 11.5 32.1 9.2

Apr 2007

14.5 34.2 10.8 31.4 9.0

May 2007

14.2 35.3 11.0 31.7 7.8

Jun 2007

12.7 35.9 11.9 30.3 9.2

Jul 2007

14.2 37.1 11.5 28.7 8.4

Aug 2007

13.7 37.7 11.3 29.0 8.3

Sep 2007

12.7 36.8 11.5 29.9 9.2

Oct 2007

14.4 36.6 10.8 28.7 9.6

Nov 2007

13.6 36.9 10.6 29.7 9.3

Dec 2007

12.6 37.9 10.2 30.5 8.9

Jan 2008

14.1 36.9 10.9 29.2 9.0

Feb 2008

13.3 38.8 10.6 28.5 8.8

Mar 2008

13.9 39.3 10.3 27.4 9.1

Apr 2008

14.5 38.6 11.1 27.7 8.2

May 2008

12.7 37.8 10.3 29.6 9.5

Jun 2008

12.7 38.5 10.0 29.6 9.2

Jul 2008

12.0 38.9 9.9 29.9 9.4

Aug 2008

13.2 39.2 10.8 28.1 8.7

Sep 2008

13.9 40.5 10.3 26.9 8.4

Oct 2008

13.1 43.5 9.2 26.0 8.1

Nov 2008

13.4 45.3 8.7 25.4 7.2

Dec 2008

13.4 45.7 8.8 25.1 7.1

Jan 2009

12.5 49.9 7.5 23.5 6.5

Feb 2009

11.8 51.0 6.5 22.9 7.8

Mar 2009

12.1 52.0 6.6 22.7 6.5

Apr 2009

12.2 52.6 6.3 22.5 6.5

May 2009

12.4 52.6 6.2 22.1 6.7

Jun 2009

11.7 53.2 5.6 22.7 6.8

Jul 2009

11.7 53.0 6.1 22.3 6.9

Aug 2009

11.1 53.8 5.7 22.1 7.3

Sep 2009

12.4 52.9 5.8 21.4 7.6

Oct 2009

10.9 53.8 5.9 22.2 7.2

Nov 2009

10.0 53.9 6.1 21.2 8.7

Dec 2009

9.9 53.5 6.1 22.3 8.2

Jan 2010

9.7 52.2 6.0 24.2 7.9

Feb 2010

10.4 53.0 5.8 22.9 7.9

Mar 2010

11.0 52.0 5.9 23.6 7.5

Apr 2010

9.1 52.4 6.1 24.6 7.8

May 2010

9.9 52.5 6.6 22.9 8.1

Jun 2010

9.4 53.4 6.2 22.9 8.1

Jul 2010

8.2 53.9 6.2 23.3 8.3

Aug 2010

9.9 52.5 5.9 23.0 8.7

Sep 2010

9.2 53.6 5.5 23.3 8.4

Oct 2010

8.8 52.5 5.9 24.0 8.8

Nov 2010

9.6 53.4 5.7 22.9 8.5

Dec 2010

9.5 51.7 6.4 23.4 9.0

Jan 2011

8.7 51.5 6.5 23.8 9.5

Feb 2011

9.4 50.8 6.4 24.1 9.3

Mar 2011

9.0 51.3 6.4 24.0 9.3

Apr 2011

9.2 50.2 6.8 24.5 9.3

May 2011

9.0 50.9 6.6 24.5 8.9

Jun 2011

8.5 50.2 7.0 25.3 8.9

Jul 2011

8.6 50.6 6.8 24.7 9.3

Aug 2011

8.6 49.6 7.1 25.6 9.1

Sep 2011

8.7 49.3 7.0 25.1 10.0

Oct 2011

9.1 48.7 8.0 24.7 9.4

Nov 2011

8.9 48.7 7.6 25.2 9.6

Dec 2011

9.4 48.0 7.2 25.5 9.8

Jan 2012

10.0 47.1 7.4 25.6 9.9

Feb 2012

9.0 46.4 8.0 25.9 10.6

Mar 2012

9.0 46.0 8.6 25.6 10.8

Apr 2012

8.8 45.5 8.0 26.9 10.9

May 2012

9.1 46.2 7.1 26.8 10.8

Jun 2012

9.8 46.4 7.3 26.0 10.5

Jul 2012

10.7 45.5 6.9 26.7 10.3

Aug 2012

9.4 45.7 7.6 27.1 10.2

Sep 2012

9.8 44.4 7.9 27.4 10.4

Oct 2012

8.9 44.8 8.5 27.1 10.7

Nov 2012

9.0 44.7 7.6 27.6 11.1

Dec 2012

9.1 43.5 8.0 29.0 10.4

Jan 2013

9.7 44.1 8.1 27.8 10.3

Feb 2013

9.1 44.9 7.9 27.6 10.5

Mar 2013

9.5 43.9 8.4 27.1 11.1

Apr 2013

10.3 43.9 7.6 27.2 11.1

May 2013

8.6 43.8 8.1 28.5 10.9

Jun 2013

9.8 42.2 8.7 28.7 10.6

Jul 2013

10.3 41.4 8.6 28.6 11.1

Aug 2013

9.1 43.5 7.8 28.1 11.5

Sep 2013

9.9 42.3 8.7 28.2 10.8

Oct 2013

13.9 41.1 7.5 26.8 10.7

Nov 2013

10.1 43.0 8.1 28.2 10.7

Dec 2013

9.6 42.2 8.1 28.7 11.4

Jan 2014

10.0 42.9 8.0 27.5 11.5

Feb 2014

9.7 42.4 7.8 28.5 11.6

Mar 2014

10.1 42.0 7.7 29.1 11.1

Apr 2014

10.8 42.6 8.3 27.1 11.2

May 2014

10.5 40.3 9.0 29.3 10.9

Jun 2014

10.5 40.2 9.0 29.4 10.9

Jul 2014

10.1 39.5 9.0 30.0 11.4

Aug 2014

11.4 38.3 8.9 30.4 11.0

Sep 2014

10.2 38.8 8.8 30.3 12.0

Oct 2014

9.8 38.3 8.6 31.4 11.9

Nov 2014

11.5 37.8 9.0 30.3 11.5

Dec 2014

10.8 38.6 9.0 30.5 11.1

Jan 2015

10.3 37.5 9.7 30.9 11.5

Feb 2015

11.7 36.8 10.4 30.3 10.9

Mar 2015

11.8 37.1 10.2 31.4 9.4

Apr 2015

11.7 36.8 9.9 31.4 10.2

May 2015

12.8 37.0 9.5 29.7 11.1

Jun 2015

12.4 36.7 9.3 30.7 10.9

Jul 2015

11.8 37.9 10.4 29.8 10.1

Aug 2015

12.1 37.8 9.7 29.8 10.6

Sep 2015

11.4 37.4 9.8 30.8 10.7

Oct 2015

12.3 37.5 9.7 30.2 10.3

Nov 2015

11.4 37.5 9.8 30.6 10.7

Dec 2015

11.5 36.3 10.2 31.1 10.9

Jan 2016

11.8 35.8 10.0 31.8 10.6

Feb 2016

12.2 36.0 9.9 31.3 10.6

Mar 2016

11.7 36.6 10.6 31.7 9.6

Apr 2016

11.0 37.6 11.0 29.7 10.7

May 2016

11.9 36.6 10.6 29.3 11.7

Jun 2016

14.1 34.2 10.7 29.5 11.4

Jul 2016

12.8 35.7 11.0 29.8 10.7

Aug 2016

12.8 35.6 11.3 29.2 11.1

Sep 2016

13.7 35.8 11.4 29.0 10.1

Oct 2016

13.1 34.9 12.0 29.8 10.2

Nov 2016

11.4 36.0 12.4 30.4 9.8

Dec 2016

13.6 34.7 11.9 29.3 10.5

Jan 2017

14.0 35.2 11.5 28.6 10.7

Feb 2017

12.9 36.6 10.9 29.4 10.2

Mar 2017

13.2 36.0 11.1 28.9 10.8

Apr 2017

13.4 36.6 11.1 28.9 10.0

May 2017

11.8 36.5 11.6 30.5 9.6

Jun 2017

13.0 36.3 11.7 29.4 9.7

Jul 2017

14.9 33.7 11.0 30.2 10.1

Aug 2017

14.6 34.9 11.2 30.2 9.2

Sep 2017

13.1 35.8 10.9 30.5 9.8

Oct 2017

13.1 35.8 11.1 30.5 9.5

Nov 2017

14.4 33.3 11.2 30.6 10.5

Dec 2017

14.0 35.7 10.9 30.6 8.9

Jan 2018

13.8 35.8 10.9 29.7 9.8

Feb 2018

13.1 35.8 11.6 29.0 10.5

Mar 2018

13.1 34.6 13.1 29.8 9.5

Apr 2018

13.5 32.7 12.7 31.4 9.7

May 2018

13.0 33.3 13.8 30.6 9.3

Job leavers represented 13.8 percent of the unemployed in May 2018. These are people who quit or voluntarily ended their jobs and began searching for a new job. Reentrants to the labor force made up 30.6 percent of the unemployed. Reentrants are people who previously worked but were out of the labor force before they began their job search. New entrants made up 9.3 percent of the unemployed.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see "The Employment Situation — May 2018" (HTML) (PDF). 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, Reasons for unemployment in May 2018 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/reasons-for-unemployment-in-may-2018.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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