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Current Population Survey (LNU04035181) · Self-employed and unpaid family workers, not seasonally adjusted

What is the unemployment rate of the self-employed and unpaid family workers?

The unemployment rate of self-employed and unpaid family workers was 3.4% in the month ended , up 0.7 percentage points from a year earlier.

Unemployment rate, self-employed and unpaid family workers, not seasonally adjusted, each month

January 2000 to September 2026Not seasonally adjusted, as published

Unemployment rate, self-employed and unpaid family workers, not seasonally adjusted, each month (January 2000 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Unemployment rate, self-employed and unpaid family workers, not seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Unemployment rate, self-employed and unpaid family workers, not seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Unemployment rate, self-employed and unpaid family workers, change from a year earlier, each month (ours)

January 2000 to September 2026Ours, from the published values

Unemployment rate, self-employed and unpaid family workers, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (January 2000 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Unemployment rate, self-employed and unpaid family workers, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Unemployment rate, self-employed and unpaid family workers, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Each point is one month of the series as the source publishes it, or a change worked out from those values (ours). The US recessions are shaded. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

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Inspect and compare dates

The newest month beside the one before it and the nearest ones a year, five and ten years earlier. The last ten years are in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".

MeasureLatestThe month beforeA year earlierFive years earlierTen years earlier
Month
Unemployment rate, self-employed and unpaid family workers3.4%2.8%2.7%4.1%3.9%
Change over a year+0.7 pts−0.7 pts−0.7 pts−2.6 pts+0.1 pts

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

Observed .

Right now

The unemployment rate of self-employed and unpaid family workers was 3.4% in September 2026, the highest since June 2026.

Over a year it is up 0.7 percentage points (ours).

See every month of the last ten years

ChangeOurs

PeriodThenChange
One month2.8%, the rate in +0.6 percentage points
Three months3.7%, the rate in −0.3 percentage points
Twelve months2.7%, the rate in +0.7 percentage points
Five years4.1%, the rate in −0.7 percentage points
Ten years3.9%, the rate in −0.5 percentage points

In historyOurs

The unemployment rate of self-employed and unpaid family workers of 3.4% in was higher than in 164 of the 319 other months since , the same in 11 and lower in 144.

Highest since : 9.7% in . Lowest since : 1.7% in .

AverageOurs

Average since : 3.74% (ours, a plain mean of the 320 months).

ComparedOurs

Over a year the unemployment rate of self-employed and unpaid family workers is up 0.7 percentage points, which ranks 1 of the 5 rows of the table, where 1 is the largest change.

The table sets the unemployment rate of self-employed and unpaid family workers beside the classes of worker on the unemployment by class of worker page, by the change over a year in each one's newest month.

See every row of the ranking

Understanding the unemployment rate of self-employed and unpaid family workers

Where it stands today

The unemployment rate of self-employed and unpaid family workers was 3.4% in September 2026.

What does the unemployment rate of self-employed and unpaid family workers measure?

The self-employed here are people who work for themselves in their own unincorporated business, in any industry. Unpaid family workers are people who work without pay for 15 hours a week or more in a business run by a family member. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates it each month from the Current Population Survey, a survey of households, and publishes it, not seasonally adjusted, in the Employment Situation report (table A-14).

Read more

What 500metrics adds: the change over a year, the highest and lowest value since the series begins, and how the change over a year compares with the other lines of the unemployment by class of worker page.

The numbers behind the chart

What was the unemployment rate of self-employed and unpaid family workers in each month?The last ten years, 119 months, newest first; the chart and the file have every month since Jan 2000
Unemployment rate, self-employed and unpaid family workers, not seasonally adjusted, by month, newest first (Percent of the labor force of the class of worker; the change ours)
MonthValueChange over a year
3.4%+0.7 pts
2.8%−0.7 pts
2.8%−0.7 pts
3.7%+0.8 pts
3.1%0.0 pts
3.3%−0.4 pts
4.0%−0.3 pts
4.3%0.0 pts
4.3%+0.1 pts
3.8%+0.8 pts
3.4%−0.8 pts
2.7%−0.7 pts
3.5%+0.6 pts
3.5%+0.4 pts
2.9%−0.6 pts
3.1%+1.1 pts
3.7%+0.8 pts
4.3%+1.0 pts
4.3%+0.8 pts
4.2%+0.7 pts
3.0%−0.5 pts
4.2%+2.2 pts
3.4%−0.2 pts
3.4%+0.7 pts
Show 95 more rows
MonthValueChange over a year
2.9%−0.2 pts
3.1%+0.2 pts
3.5%+0.2 pts
2.0%−0.6 pts
2.9%+0.5 pts
3.3%0.0 pts
3.5%+0.5 pts
3.5%0.0 pts
3.5%−0.4 pts
2.0%−1.2 pts
3.6%+0.5 pts
2.7%−0.1 pts
3.1%+0.5 pts
2.9%+0.6 pts
3.3%+0.6 pts
2.6%0.0 pts
2.4%−1.3 pts
3.3%+0.1 pts
3.0%−0.9 pts
3.5%−0.6 pts
3.9%+0.5 pts
3.2%−0.5 pts
3.1%−1.6 pts
2.8%−1.3 pts
2.6%−2.3 pts
2.3%−2.6 pts
2.7%−3.2 pts
2.6%−2.7 pts
3.7%−1.9 pts
3.2%−1.2 pts
3.9%−2.6 pts
4.1%−2.1 pts
3.4%−3.3 pts
3.7%−2.2 pts
4.7%−1.4 pts
4.1%−2.6 pts
4.9%−1.9 pts
4.9%−2.9 pts
5.9%−2.2 pts
5.3%−4.1 pts
5.6%−4.1 pts
4.4%+1.0 pts
6.5%+3.3 pts
6.2%+2.6 pts
6.7%+4.0 pts
5.9%+3.8 pts
6.1%+4.0 pts
6.7%+4.1 pts
6.8%+4.0 pts
7.8%+5.7 pts
8.1%+5.8 pts
9.4%+7.4 pts
9.7%+7.5 pts
3.4%−0.4 pts
3.2%−0.2 pts
3.6%−0.1 pts
2.7%+0.2 pts
2.1%0.0 pts
2.1%−0.5 pts
2.6%+0.1 pts
2.8%−0.2 pts
2.1%−0.4 pts
2.3%−0.7 pts
2.0%−0.3 pts
2.2%−0.7 pts
3.8%+0.5 pts
3.4%−0.2 pts
3.7%+0.2 pts
2.5%−0.4 pts
2.1%−1.1 pts
2.6%−0.5 pts
2.5%−0.6 pts
3.0%−0.3 pts
2.5%−0.7 pts
3.0%+0.2 pts
2.3%−0.7 pts
2.9%−0.5 pts
3.3%−0.1 pts
3.6%+0.1 pts
3.5%−0.3 pts
2.9%−0.7 pts
3.2%−0.6 pts
3.1%−1.4 pts
3.1%−0.8 pts
3.3%−0.4 pts
3.2%−0.5 pts
2.8%−1.0 pts
3.0%−0.2 pts
3.4%+0.3 pts
3.4%−0.6 pts
3.5%−0.7 pts
3.8%−0.2 pts
3.6%+0.1 pts
3.8%+0.4 pts
4.5%+1.2 pts
How does it compare with the classes of worker on the unemployment by class of worker page?Ranked by the change over a year
Unemployment rate, self-employed and unpaid family workers beside the classes of worker on the unemployment by class of worker page, newest month of each, by the change over a year (ours); equal changes share a rank
SeriesMonthValueChange over a yearRank
Self-employed and unpaid family workers3.4%+0.7 pts1
Private wage and salary workers3.9%−0.2 pts2
Government wage and salary workers1.8%−0.6 pts3
Federal government workers2.6%−1.1 pts4
Agricultural wage and salary workers2.7%−4.1 pts5

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • Not seasonally adjusted: compare a month with the same month a year before, not with the month before. The rate moves with the seasons, and BLS does not remove that movement from this series.
  • The rate comes from a survey of households, so each month's value carries sampling error, which is larger for a small group; BLS's technical note in the Employment Situation gives its size.
  • An unemployed person is placed in the class of worker of the last job. The rate is the number unemployed that way as a share of the labor force of that class: the people employed in it plus the unemployed who last worked in it. People who have never worked are in no class.
  • People who run an incorporated business of their own are counted by BLS as wage and salary workers, so they are not in this line.
  • October 2025 has no value because BLS did not collect the survey that month; the chart shows a gap there, and the change over a year for October 2026 has no value because there is no October 2025 to compare with.
  • BLS publishes this series from 2000.
  • The changes, the ranks and the highest and lowest values are ours, worked out from the values BLS publishes; a change is in percentage points.

Observed . Checked .

How to cite this

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Self-employed and unpaid family workers, not seasonally adjusted, through September 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "What is the unemployment rate of the self-employed and unpaid family workers?", https://500metrics.com/unemployment-by-class-of-worker/self-employed.

Can the data be downloaded?unemployment-by-class-of-worker-self-employed.csv

Download the full history as CSV: 320 rows, to , 5,259 bytes.

Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.

Recession dates from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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