The economy,
in human terms.
Hiring, layoffs, wages, and the changing working day.
The quits rate tracks the share of payroll employment ending in voluntary departures. It can hint at workers’ mobility across the labor market, but it cannot tell whether one person has good alternatives or why any particular worker stayed.
JOLTS counts payroll departures by how they happen: employee-initiated quits, employer-initiated layoffs and discharges, and other separations such as retirement or transfer. The measures describe establishment-level flows, while unemployment statistics count people according to whether they have a job, are looking, and are available for work.
JOLTS calculates the hires rate by comparing payroll additions during a month with employment. That monthly flow differs from job openings, which count qualifying vacant positions on the last business day. The measures describe distinct parts of labor turnover.
A job ad alone does not make a position a JOLTS opening. The position must exist, be ready to start within 30 days, and be subject to active recruiting from outside the establishment.
A JOLTS opening is a specific position available soon and actively being recruited for at month’s end. It is a measure of labor demand, not a count of hires, accessible jobs or individual search prospects.
Payrolls count jobs reported by employers; the unemployment rate estimates people’s labor-force status from a household survey. Different coverage and definitions mean the measures can move differently, even when both describe the same month.
Teenagers have a higher unemployment rate than adults in September 2026, but the rate measures joblessness among people in the labor force, not everyone who lacks a job. Age differences in school schedules, availability, job-search activity and work patterns shape both the number and its interpretation.
State unemployment estimates combine survey information with a separate state and local estimation process. They help compare labor markets, but cannot describe every town, occupation or individual worker.
The employment-population ratio measures the share of the civilian noninstitutional population that has a job. Because it includes people outside the labor force in its denominator, it answers a broader question than unemployment or labor-force participation rates do.
The headline unemployment rate counts people without jobs who recently searched for work, while U-6 also captures some involuntary part-time workers and people loosely attached to the labor force. The wider measure reveals slack the headline misses, but it is not a count of everyone seeking more work.
Seasonal adjustment estimates and removes recurring calendar patterns so month-to-month labor changes are easier to interpret. It does not change the underlying survey period or make the unemployment rate a count of every person without work.
The monthly U.S. unemployment rate comes from a sample of households interviewed about work and job search during a reference week. Responses are classified under common rules, weighted to represent the population and published as estimates, not a census of every job seeker.
Long-term unemployment counts people who have been jobless for at least 27 weeks and meet the survey’s unemployment criteria. In September 2026, that group made up 27.1 percent of unemployed people, a measure of duration that adds context to the overall rate without predicting any individual’s job prospects.
Discouraged workers are people who want and are available for work, searched within the past year, and stopped looking recently because they believe no jobs are available to them. That makes them a defined subset of people marginally attached to the labor force, outside the official unemployment count.
Unemployment counts people without jobs who are actively seeking and available for work. Participation and the employment-population ratio add context by showing how many adults are working or seeking work, and how many are employed overall.
The unemployment rate counts jobless people who recently searched and were available for work. When someone stops actively looking, they leave both the unemployed count and the labor force, so the rate can fall without a hiring surge. Payroll jobs, participation and the employment-population ratio measure different parts of the labor market and help put a monthly rate in context.
BLS classifies people by work, recent active job search and availability, not by whether they personally feel unemployed. These categories shape the unemployment rate and explain why some people who want work are counted outside it.
Unemployment insurance records show people who apply under program rules. The monthly unemployment rate instead estimates labor-force status through a household survey, so the two measures answer different questions.
