US Unemployment Rate Rises to Near 4-Year High

The US unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in August of 2025 from 4.2% in the previous month, aligning with market expectations to reflect the highest proportion of joblessness since October of 2021. The number of unemployed increased by 148 thousand to 7.384 million in the period. In turn, the labor force increased by 436 to 170.778 million, driving the labor force participation rate to increase by 0.1 percentage point from the over two-year low in the previous month to 62.3%. The broader U-6 unemployment rate, which includes discouraged workers and those working part-time for economic reasons, rose to 8.1% from 7.9% in July.