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United States announcement

United States Unemployment Rate 2019-01-04 08:30 America/New_York: data, chart, and analysis

United States Unemployment Rate came in at 3.9 on Jan 4, 2019, compared with 3.8 previously. See the full release history, chart, Federal Reserve context, and API access for this series.

Back to Unemployment Rate API reference
Actual
3.9
Previous
3.8
Forecast
--
Reference period
2018-12-31

Last updated:

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United States Unemployment Rate release chart

Market context, recent readings, and scenario notes for this announcement.

United States Unemployment Rate chart through 2018-12-31
USD Unemployment Rate readings through 2018-12-31. Latest: 3.9.

Unemployment Rate release read

United States Unemployment Rate came in at 3.9 on Jan 4, 2019, compared with 3.8 previously. See the full release history, chart, Federal Reserve context, and API access for this series.

The parent Unemployment Rate page shows the full time series for United States. This release page keeps the realised value, prior value, forecast, reference period, and publication time together for the individual announcement.

For USD event-risk work, the important read is whether this print changes the recent trend or simply extends it. Compare the actual value with the previous and forecast fields above, then use the raw JSON below for backtests keyed to the stable announcement ID.

Release data snapshot

The values below are the citation fields for this announcement.

Public release ID usd_unemployment_2019-01-04
API announcement ID usd_unemployment_2018-12-31
Release time
2019-01-04 13:30 UTC
Reference period date 2018-12-31
Actual value 3.9
Previous value 3.8
Forecast --
Surprise --
Announcement timestamp 1546608600

API data for this announcement

The API endpoint returns the full United States Unemployment Rate history. Clients can filter by date or match this row by announcement_id.

Forecasts live in the predictions endpoint and use the same announcement identifier where available. That is the preferred join key for realised values, forecast surprises, and release-event backtests.

Analysis and guides connected to United States Unemployment Rate.

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What is NAIRU and How It Shapes Fed Policy

NAIRU — the Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment — is the invisible anchor behind every Fed rate decision. This guide explains what NAIRU is, how the Fed uses it to balance its dual mandate, and why uncertainty about the equilibrium unemployment rate is one of the biggest drivers of USD volatility around payroll and inflation releases.

More United States Unemployment Rate releases

Move through adjacent announcement records for the same series.

Newer release

2019-02-01 08:30 America/New_York · 4

Older release

2018-12-07 08:30 America/New_York · 3.8

Related United States indicators

Continue from this release into adjacent macro series for the same country.

Average Hourly Earnings

Measures the change in the price businesses pay for labor.

Average Weekly Earnings / Wages

Measures nominal wage growth.

Employment Level

Total number of employed persons.

Full-Time Employment

Number of persons employed full-time.

Initial Jobless Claims

Weekly initial unemployment insurance claims.

Job Openings

Total number of unfilled job positions, a key indicator of labor market demand and tightness.

Common questions about this release

The value, its publication time, the next scheduled date, and the official publisher for United States Unemployment Rate.

What did United States Unemployment Rate come in at, and how did it compare with the forecast and the previous reading?

United States Unemployment Rate was 3.9% in December 2018. The previous reading was 3.8%.

When was this United States Unemployment Rate release published?

This release was published on Jan 4, 2019 at 08:30 America/New_York.

When is the next United States Unemployment Rate release?

The next United States Unemployment Rate release is scheduled for Oct 2, 2026 at 08:30 America/New_York.

What is the official source for United States Unemployment Rate?

BLS publishes the official Unemployment Rate series. FXMacroData stores every release with its announcement timestamp and serves it from the announcements endpoint for this series.

Raw announcement payload

Field names are preserved for traceability and downstream testing.

{
  "announcement_datetime": 1546608600,
  "announcement_id": "usd_unemployment_2018-12-31",
  "date": "2018-12-31",
  "predictions": [
    {
      "confidence": 0.85,
      "generated_at": 1442512800,
      "predicted_value": 4.8,
      "prediction_reason": "FOMC Summary of Economic Projections median projection.",
      "prediction_source": "fomc_sep",
      "prediction_type": "central_bank_forecast"
    },
    {
      "confidence": 0.85,
      "generated_at": 1450292400,
      "predicted_value": 4.7,
      "prediction_reason": "FOMC Summary of Economic Projections median projection.",
      "prediction_source": "fomc_sep",
      "prediction_type": "central_bank_forecast"
    },
    {
      "confidence": 0.85,
      "generated_at": 1458151200,
      "predicted_value": 4.5,
      "prediction_reason": "FOMC Summary of Economic Projections median projection.",
      "prediction_source": "fomc_sep",
      "prediction_type": "central_bank_forecast"
    },
    {
      "confidence": 0.85,
      "generated_at": 1466013600,
      "predicted_value": 4.6,
      "prediction_reason": "FOMC Summary of Economic Projections median projection.",
      "prediction_source": "fomc_sep",
      "prediction_type": "central_bank_forecast"
    },
    {
      "confidence": 0.85,
      "generated_at": 1474480800,
      "predicted_value": 4.5,
      "prediction_reason": "FOMC Summary of Economic Projections median projection.",
      "prediction_source": "fomc_sep",
      "prediction_type": "central_bank_forecast"
    },
    {
      "confidence": 0.85,
      "generated_at": 1481742000,
      "predicted_value": 4.5,
      "prediction_reason": "FOMC Summary of Economic Projections median projection.",
      "prediction_source": "fomc_sep",
      "prediction_type": "central_bank_forecast"
    },
    {
      "confidence": 0.85,
      "generated_at": 1489600800,
      "predicted_value": 4.5,
      "prediction_reason": "FOMC Summary of Economic Projections median projection.",
      "prediction_source": "fomc_sep",
      "prediction_type": "central_bank_forecast"
    },
    {
      "confidence": 0.85,
      "generated_at": 1497463200,
      "predicted_value": 4.2,
      "prediction_reason": "FOMC Summary of Economic Projections median projection.",
      "prediction_source": "fomc_sep",
      "prediction_type": "central_bank_forecast"
    },
    {
      "confidence": 0.85,
      "generated_at": 1505930400,
      "predicted_value": 4.1,
      "prediction_reason": "FOMC Summary of Economic Projections median projection.",
      "prediction_source": "fomc_sep",
      "prediction_type": "central_bank_forecast"
    },
    {
      "confidence": 0.85,
      "generated_at": 1513191600,
      "predicted_value": 3.9,
      "prediction_reason": "FOMC Summary of Economic Projections median projection.",
      "prediction_source": "fomc_sep",
      "prediction_type": "central_bank_forecast"
    },
    {
      "confidence": 0.85,
      "generated_at": 1521655200,
      "predicted_value": 3.8,
      "prediction_reason": "FOMC Summary of Economic Projections median projection.",
      "prediction_source": "fomc_sep",
      "prediction_type": "central_bank_forecast"
    },
    {
      "confidence": 0.85,
      "generated_at": 1528912800,
      "predicted_value": 3.6,
      "prediction_reason": "FOMC Summary of Economic Projections median projection.",
      "prediction_source": "fomc_sep",
      "prediction_type": "central_bank_forecast"
    },
    {
      "confidence": 0.85,
      "generated_at": 1537984800,
      "predicted_value": 3.7,
      "prediction_reason": "FOMC Summary of Economic Projections median projection.",
      "prediction_source": "fomc_sep",
      "prediction_type": "central_bank_forecast"
    },
    {
      "confidence": 0.85,
      "generated_at": 1545246000,
      "predicted_value": 3.7,
      "prediction_reason": "FOMC Summary of Economic Projections median projection.",
      "prediction_source": "fomc_sep",
      "prediction_type": "central_bank_forecast"
    }
  ],
  "previous_value": 3.8,
  "revisions": [
    {
      "epoch": 1546608600,
      "val": 3.9
    }
  ],
  "val": 3.9
}