# What was said about US unemployment, and what the number did

> “Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little.”

- 4.2%
- **Unemployment when this was said, Sep 2026.**: 4.1%
- **Unemployment now, Oct 2026.**

US unemployment rate, as the government reports it said where it stood said where it would be

said Oct 28, 2026

Oct 2024 Oct 2026

## The same government counts it a second way.

- 4.1%
- **The rate everyone quotes, Oct 2026. You count as employed if you worked one hour that week, and you are left out if you stopped looking.**: 7.9%
- **The same month, adding people who gave up looking and people in part-time work because it is all they can get.**: 3.8 pts
- **Between them. Over the last two years the gap has stayed between 3.4 and 4.2 points.**

Both from the [Bureau of Labor Statistics](https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS13327709), which calls them U-3 and U-6.

> Dictum meum pactum.

> Credere.