DATA · RESEARCH
The labor market has never been louder or less legible. Here are the numbers underneath the noise.
Every month the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes two releases that say more about your leverage at work than any all-hands: the Employment Situation and JOLTS. The figures below are from the August 2026 releases — the latest available. Quote any of them; every figure links its primary source.
What does the data say about the US labor market for workers?
- Unemployment sits at 4.1%, with 7,000,000 people unemployed — unchanged from the prior month, and little changed over the year. The rate comes from the household survey. (Employment Situation, August 2026)
- Employers added 162,000 payroll jobs in August — a real pickup after two near-flat months. The gains were narrow: food services and drinking places plus local government education. The information industry lost jobs. (Employment Situation, August 2026)
- There are 7,100,000 open jobs — a 4.3% openings rate, little changed. Openings are postings on the last business day of the month, not offers extended. (JOLTS, August 2026)
- Hiring ran at 5,200,000 — a 3.3% hires rate, changed little over the month and the year. Companies are neither on hiring sprees nor firing sprees; they are frozen. (JOLTS, August 2026)
- Quits are parked at 3,100,000 — a 1.9% quits rate, unchanged over the month. The BLS defines the quits rate as a measure of workers' willingness or ability to leave jobs. Workers are not willing. (JOLTS, August 2026)
- Layoffs and discharges were 1,600,000 — a 1.0% rate, little changed. But 1,900,000 people are long-term unemployed, 27.0% of everyone out of work. The layoff wave is not here; the rehire wave is not either. (JOLTS, August 2026; Employment Situation, August 2026)
- Average hourly earnings are up 3.1% over the past year. Meanwhile labor force participation edged up to 61.6% but is down 0.5 percentage point since January — the hiring pool is shrinking even as the unemployment rate holds flat. (Employment Situation, August 2026)
Straight answers
- What's the latest US unemployment rate, and where does the number come from?
- 4.1% in August 2026, with 7,000,000 people unemployed — unchanged from the prior month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in the Employment Situation release. The rate comes from the household survey, and the same release reported nonfarm payrolls up 162,000 in August.
- What's the current quits rate, and what does it tell us about worker confidence?
- 1.9% in August 2026 — 3,100,000 quits, unchanged over the month (JOLTS). The BLS itself says the quits rate can serve as a measure of workers' willingness or ability to leave jobs, so a low and flat quits rate means workers are sitting tight rather than shopping around.
- Is it a good time to ask for a raise?
- The data says the window is open but narrow. Average hourly earnings are up 3.1% over the past year, and employers added 162,000 payroll jobs in August. But your leverage is thinner than the headline suggests: quits are parked at 1.9%, and labor force participation is 61.6% — down 0.5 percentage point since January — so the hiring pool is not expanding.
- Are layoffs rising?
- Not in the aggregate. Layoffs and discharges were 1,600,000 in August, a 1.0% rate, little changed (JOLTS). The pain is concentrated in duration: 1,900,000 people are long-term unemployed, and they account for 27.0% of all unemployed people, so landing back on your feet takes longer than the headline rate implies.
- What labor statistics should I cite in an article about the state of work in 2026?
- The worker's dashboard, all from the August 2026 BLS releases: unemployment 4.1% with 7,000,000 unemployed; payrolls up 162,000; job openings 7,100,000 at a 4.3% openings rate; hires 5,200,000 at a 3.3% hires rate; quits 3,100,000 at a 1.9% quits rate; layoffs 1,600,000 at a 1.0% rate; average hourly earnings up 3.1% over the year; labor force participation at 61.6%.
- Where can I find free, machine-readable labor-market data with a JSON feed?
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes every release as plain HTML — the Employment Situation and JOLTS pages are the canonical sources, free with no API key. Office Blues republishes the quits rate and unemployment as open JSON at /data/daily-pulse.json, with a human-readable dashboard at /data/daily-pulse.