Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics
| Categories | Economy, Employment & Labor |
|---|---|
| Detail | number of unemployed workers and unemployment rate |
| Download Available | yes |
| Geographies | CBSA (Core Based Statistical Area), Census Place / City, County, County Subdivision, Metropolitan Division, State |
| Last Updated on PolicyMap | October 2026 |
| Public Edition or Subscriber-only | Public Edition |
| Source | Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program |
| Years Available | Annual and monthly for 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 (monthly) |
Description:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program produces monthly and annual employment, unemployment, and labor force data for Census regions and divisions, States, counties, metropolitan areas, and many cities, by place of residence. PolicyMap contains county and state counts of people employed, unemployed, and in the labor force, as well as the unemployment rate. The annual values presented in PolicyMap are annual averages for the years listed as provided by the BLS.
The concepts and definitions used by LAUS come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), the household survey that is the official measure of the labor force for the nation. According to this definition, employed persons include people who did any paid work as employees, worked in their own business or farm, or did unpaid work of 15 or more hours in an establishment owned by a relative. Unemployed persons include people who had no employment but were available for and seeking employment. People in the labor force are all those people classified as employed or unemployed. The labor force does not include military (active duty) and institutionalized persons.
With the release of January 2025 data on March 17, 2025, the LAUS estimates for federal statistical areas, including metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and combined statistical areas, were updated to reflect the delineations based on the 2020 Census. For the six New England states, the LAUS began publishing the areas and divisions made up of counties or county equivalents. New geography for all areas was applied to all historic data. In addition, the previous eight counties in Connecticut were replaced by nine planning regions, which serve as county equivalents. This change was also applied all data years. All areas published by the LAUS program have been updated and replaced with the new estimates in 2025. Specific methodology changes for sub-state geographies can be found in LAUS Geography and Data Changes in 2025.
Data for October 2025 is unavailable due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations, except for Puerto Rico.
The annual data contains percent change calculations on the number of people in the labor force and employed, as well as a change in percent calculation of the unemployment rate. These were calculated by PolicyMap. Every April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics re-releases revised data for the previous five years. PolicyMap’s data reflects these revisions.