What does the US labour force flows table measure?

It measures the number of individuals transitioning between consecutive months across three primary labour force statuses: employed, unemployed, and not in the labour force. The table tracks how many people retain their status versus how many move between different states.

How often is the US labour force flows data published and how far back does it go?

The data is published monthly by the BLS via FRED, with historical series starting in 1948. It updates with every official release.

Which breakdowns are available in this table?

The table provides disaggregation by total, men, and women. Each labour force status is broken down by inflow sources and outflow categories to capture detailed worker transitions.

How does this table differ from the standard US unemployment rate?

While the unemployment rate provides a static monthly snapshot of joblessness, the labour force flows table reveals the underlying worker turnover volume and transition dynamics between different labour market states.

US Labour Force Flows

Name: US Labour Force Flows
Creator: FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

US labour force flows and worker transitions between statuses from the BLS.

Source: FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)Last updated: Sep 21, 2026, 14:14Curated by Bui Thanh PhucAbout this data ↓

Indicator	08-2026	07-2026	06-2026	05-2026	04-2026	03-2026	02-2026	01-2026	12-2025	11-2025	09-2025	08-2025	07-2025	06-2025	05-2025	04-2025	03-2025	02-2025	01-2025	12-2024	11-2024	10-2024	09-2024	08-2024	07-2024	06-2024	05-2024	04-2024	03-2024	02-2024	01-2024	12-2023	11-2023	10-2023	09-2023	08-2023	07-2023
Total6
Total employed4	162,746	162,177	162,264	162,771	162,622	162,848	162,912	163,097	163,992	163,760	163,656	163,370	163,140	163,327	163,244	163,898	163,509	163,338	163,831	161,586	161,159	161,444	161,813	161,429	161,297	161,152	161,180	161,438	161,462	161,083	161,133	161,058	161,863	161,198	161,451	161,485	161,246
Employed to employed	156,022	155,848	156,111	156,208	156,236	156,391	156,815	156,374	157,085		156,838	156,758	156,791	156,735	156,672	157,409	157,010	157,323	155,703	155,423	155,356	155,633	155,500	155,036	155,054	154,810	155,123	155,220	154,999	154,869	154,651	155,420	155,188	154,944	155,097	155,126	154,560
Unemployed to employed	1,721	1,676	1,771	1,829	1,736	1,882	1,688	1,832	2,050		1,826	1,792	1,879	1,998	1,787	1,859	1,850	1,754	1,902	1,799	1,499	1,681	1,985	1,931	1,769	1,732	1,772	1,791	1,720	1,607	1,691	1,696	1,884	1,719	1,783	1,581	1,805
Not in labour force to employed	4,905	4,600	4,315	4,696	4,597	4,529	4,380	4,150	4,757		4,890	4,714	4,385	4,497	4,647	4,596	4,599	4,178	4,447	4,262	4,185	4,024	4,229	4,391	4,414	4,504	4,222	4,302	4,672	4,579	4,768	3,841	4,722	4,428	4,492	4,675	4,831
Other inflow to employed	98	54	68	38	54	46	29	741	100		102	105	85	98	137	34	50	83	1,779	103	120	106	98	71	59	107	63	125	71	28	23	101	69	106	78	103	50
Total unemployed4	7,031	6,916	7,094	7,307	7,373	7,239	7,571	7,368	7,503	7,781	7,605	7,380	7,272	7,054	7,248	7,155	7,132	7,104	6,865	6,920	7,089	6,951	6,849	7,063	7,098	6,881	6,627	6,486	6,521	6,486	6,175	6,329	6,226	6,463	6,274	6,275	5,923
Employed to unemployed	1,505	1,261	1,599	1,454	1,715	1,380	1,623	1,501	1,651		1,733	1,596	1,730	1,691	1,805	1,559	1,646	1,713	1,465	1,505	1,355	1,666	1,579	1,797	1,767	1,555	1,498	1,724	1,506	1,536	1,495	1,540	1,458	1,573	1,550	1,528	1,366
Unemployed to unemployed	3,673	3,699	3,696	3,927	3,750	3,919	4,029	3,889	3,990		3,847	3,767	3,521	3,572	3,685	3,594	3,547	3,572	3,480	3,681	3,920	3,607	3,442	3,534	3,645	3,430	3,129	3,130	3,233	3,052	3,024	3,033	3,124	3,042	3,005	3,012	2,823
Not in labour force to unemployed	1,834	1,944	1,764	1,906	1,897	1,935	1,911	1,898	1,859		2,012	1,984	2,001	1,783	1,747	1,961	1,901	1,817	1,846	1,715	1,802	1,656	1,798	1,695	1,664	1,890	1,990	1,620	1,781	1,890	1,651	1,742	1,634	1,825	1,705	1,731	1,725
Other inflow to unemployed	19	12	36	20	11	5	8	80	4		13	33	20	7	12	41	39	3	73	19	12	23	30	38	22	6	9	11	1	8	5	14	10	22	14	4	8
Total not in labour force4	105,638	106,189	105,808	104,976	104,959	104,771	104,283	104,211	103,321	103,092	102,964	103,251	103,373	103,205	102,893	102,143	102,382	102,405	101,989	101,132	101,215	100,894	100,418	100,364	100,250	100,405	100,441	100,142	99,902	100,142	100,232	100,603	99,732	99,982	99,702	99,453	99,833
Employed to not in labour force	4,624	4,994	5,034	4,906	4,860	5,115	4,602	5,073	4,997		4,772	4,759	4,597	4,791	5,394	4,506	4,655	4,769	4,392	4,205	4,708	4,487	4,323	4,424	4,173	4,789	4,790	4,492	4,552	4,702	4,480	4,877	4,515	4,907	4,811	4,566	4,912
Unemployed to not in labour force	1,521	1,712	1,839	1,613	1,750	1,768	1,647	1,734	1,740		1,705	1,711	1,644	1,676	1,681	1,677	1,705	1,537	1,535	1,607	1,530	1,559	1,634	1,631	1,460	1,463	1,582	1,597	1,531	1,515	1,597	1,495	1,453	1,511	1,486	1,328	1,351
Not in labour force to not in labour force	99,235	98,954	98,683	98,129	98,059	97,605	97,691	96,554	96,263		96,135	96,462	96,497	96,400	95,537	95,609	95,693	95,781	94,629	95,028	94,697	94,529	94,128	93,945	94,040	93,839	93,722	93,771	93,481	93,554	93,779	93,941	93,412	93,241	93,047	93,219	93,019
Other inflow to not in labour force	259	529	252	328	290	284	342	849	322		352	320	636	337	281	352	329	318	1,432	292	280	318	333	364	577	315	347	282	338	371	377	290	352	323	359	340	552
Employed to other outflow	27	162	27	54	37	27	57	1,043	27		27	27	208	27	27	34	27	27	27	26	26	26	26	40	158	26	26	26	26	26	432	26	36	26	26	26	135
Unemployed to other outflow	2	8	2	3	2	2	3	48	2		2	2	10	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	7	2	2	2	2	2	18	2	2	2	2	2	6
Not in labour force to other outflow	214	310	214	228	219	214	229	719	214		213	213	322	213	213	216	212	212	210	210	210	210	209	219	287	209	209	209	208	208	406	208	213	208	208	208	268
Men6
Total employed4	85,337	84,978	84,854	85,172	85,007	85,111	85,210	85,348	86,812	86,616	86,652	86,834	86,375	86,558	86,473	86,691	86,457	86,269	86,700	85,593	85,329	85,590	85,562	85,032	85,394	85,443	84,979	85,198	85,497	85,118	85,037	85,665	85,956	85,213	85,567	85,483	85,475
Employed to employed	82,146	81,935	82,007	82,162	81,937	82,092	82,318	82,684	83,503		83,639	83,504	83,353	83,463	83,262	83,510	83,268	83,542	82,709	82,592	82,594	82,704	82,248	82,235	82,407	82,164	81,955	82,279	82,261	82,007	82,068	82,903	82,387	82,129	82,385	82,400	82,384
Unemployed to employed	945	907	957	901	913	1,028	937	956	1,103		979	992	1,043	1,040	992	972	1,015	938	1,001	932	765	898	1,120	971	983	1,014	1,003	938	973	919	879	976	1,048	1,033	980	898	948
Not in labour force to employed	2,205	2,126	1,841	2,106	2,148	1,976	1,941	1,701	2,143		1,992	2,280	1,940	2,002	2,163	2,201	2,165	1,763	2,020	1,989	1,911	1,957	2,136	1,784	1,973	2,238	1,985	1,920	2,221	2,177	2,072	1,728	2,479	2,025	2,175	2,138	2,123
Other inflow to employed	41	10	49	3	10	15	13	8	63		41	57	39	52	57	8	9	27	971	80	59	32	58	42	30	27	35	62	42	16	17	58	41	26	27	47	19
Total unemployed4	3,922	3,761	3,836	3,966	3,929	3,736	3,891	3,852	3,968	4,123	4,033	3,970	3,985	3,901	3,915	3,952	3,849	3,809	3,687	3,711	3,822	3,771	3,762	3,821	3,828	3,688	3,704	3,494	3,422	3,423	3,514	3,505	3,560	3,653	3,623	3,521	3,288
Employed to unemployed	796	750	810	766	879	789	887	752	961		943	862	981	936	938	873	942	875	808	806	714	906	886	990	993	796	938	1,045	794	833	875	833	873	953	926	929	777
Unemployed to unemployed	2,054	2,107	2,133	2,228	2,081	2,034	2,078	2,081	2,127		2,160	2,155	2,038	2,062	2,106	2,117	1,962	1,972	1,910	2,101	2,219	2,070	1,955	2,021	2,064	1,945	1,764	1,677	1,737	1,714	1,814	1,797	1,878	1,829	1,810	1,741	1,631
Not in labour force to unemployed	1,070	902	884	972	958	909	926	997	878		920	931	962	897	862	946	921	960	929	796	878	774	898	785	760	946	1,001	771	891	875	826	862	808	858	875	850	872
Other inflow to unemployed	1	1	9	0	10	4	0	23	2		10	22	5	6	9	16	23	1	41	9	10	21	23	25	11	1	1	1	0	1	0	13	0	13	13	0	8
Total not in labour force4	43,617	44,077	44,073	43,576	43,734	43,780	43,485	43,345	43,266	43,218	43,075	42,847	43,186	42,990	42,963	42,618	42,869	43,011	42,623	42,151	42,220	41,926	41,862	42,224	41,753	41,744	42,100	42,002	41,686	41,979	41,885	41,816	41,387	41,950	41,522	41,605	41,744
Employed to not in labour force	2,020	2,111	2,340	2,036	2,270	2,313	2,098	2,344	2,136		2,236	1,993	2,094	2,058	2,475	2,051	2,043	2,268	2,061	1,916	2,267	1,936	1,882	2,154	1,943	2,003	2,289	2,158	2,048	2,182	2,301	2,205	1,927	2,470	2,156	2,131	2,182
Unemployed to not in labour force	761	818	875	797	740	828	834	884	892		830	837	813	812	853	759	831	777	799	788	787	794	745	835	636	744	726	806	712	880	795	786	725	760	731	648	714
Not in labour force to not in labour force	40,700	40,921	40,749	40,541	40,568	40,499	40,362	39,961	40,094		39,833	39,873	39,930	39,962	39,491	39,617	39,823	39,798	39,102	39,335	39,036	39,031	39,089	39,084	38,868	38,815	38,916	38,895	38,767	38,734	38,620	38,697	38,557	38,539	38,454	38,656	38,533
Other inflow to not in labour force	136	227	109	201	156	141	190	156	143		176	144	349	158	144	191	172	168	661	112	131	165	145	151	306	181	168	142	158	183	169	127	178	181	181	171	314
Employed to other outflow	16	59	16	43	26	16	45	1,032	16		16	16	130	16	16	23	16	16	16	16	15	15	15	15	101	15	15	15	15	15	420	15	25	15	15	15	98
Unemployed to other outflow	1	3	1	2	1	1	2	47	1		1	1	6	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	5	1	1	1	1	1	17	1	1	1	1	1	4
Not in labour force to other outflow	102	124	101	116	107	101	116	608	102		102	102	159	102	102	106	102	102	101	100	100	100	100	100	142	100	100	100	100	100	297	100	105	100	100	100	140
Women6
Total employed4	77,409	77,199	77,410	77,599	77,615	77,737	77,702	77,749	77,180	77,144	77,004	76,536	76,765	76,769	76,771	77,208	77,052	77,068	77,131	75,993	75,830	75,854	76,251	76,396	75,903	75,709	76,201	76,239	75,965	75,965	76,096	75,394	75,907	75,984	75,884	76,002	75,772
Employed to employed	73,876	73,913	74,105	74,046	74,299	74,299	74,497	73,690	73,582		73,199	73,254	73,439	73,272	73,411	73,899	73,742	73,781	72,994	72,831	72,762	72,929	73,252	72,801	72,647	72,646	73,168	72,941	72,738	72,862	72,583	72,517	72,801	72,815	72,712	72,726	72,176
Unemployed to employed	776	768	813	928	824	854	751	876	947		847	800	836	957	796	887	835	816	901	867	734	784	866	960	786	717	770	853	747	688	811	720	835	686	804	683	857
Not in labour force to employed	2,701	2,474	2,474	2,590	2,449	2,553	2,439	2,450	2,614		2,898	2,434	2,445	2,495	2,484	2,396	2,433	2,416	2,427	2,272	2,274	2,067	2,093	2,607	2,441	2,266	2,236	2,382	2,450	2,402	2,696	2,113	2,243	2,403	2,317	2,538	2,708
Other inflow to employed	57	44	19	35	44	31	15	733	37		61	48	46	45	80	26	41	55	809	23	60	74	40	29	29	80	27	63	29	13	6	43	28	80	52	56	31
Total unemployed4	3,109	3,155	3,258	3,341	3,444	3,503	3,680	3,515	3,535	3,658	3,572	3,410	3,287	3,153	3,333	3,203	3,283	3,295	3,177	3,209	3,267	3,180	3,087	3,242	3,270	3,193	2,923	2,992	3,099	3,063	2,661	2,824	2,666	2,810	2,651	2,755	2,635
Employed to unemployed	708	511	789	688	836	591	737	750	690		790	734	750	755	866	686	703	838	657	700	640	760	693	808	774	759	560	679	712	703	621	707	585	620	624	600	589
Unemployed to unemployed	1,618	1,592	1,563	1,699	1,669	1,885	1,951	1,808	1,863		1,687	1,612	1,483	1,510	1,579	1,477	1,585	1,599	1,570	1,580	1,701	1,537	1,487	1,513	1,581	1,486	1,365	1,453	1,496	1,338	1,210	1,236	1,245	1,213	1,195	1,271	1,193
Not in labour force to unemployed	764	1,042	880	934	938	1,026	985	901	980		1,093	1,053	1,039	886	885	1,015	980	856	917	919	923	882	900	909	904	943	990	849	890	1,015	825	880	826	967	830	881	853
Other inflow to unemployed	18	11	26	20	0	1	8	57	2		2	11	15	1	2	25	15	1	33	10	2	2	8	12	11	5	8	10	0	8	5	1	10	9	1	4	0
Total not in labour force4	62,021	62,112	61,735	61,400	61,225	60,991	60,798	60,865	60,055	59,873	59,889	60,404	60,187	60,214	59,930	59,525	59,513	59,394	59,366	58,981	58,995	58,968	58,556	58,141	58,497	58,661	58,341	58,140	58,216	58,163	58,347	58,788	58,345	58,032	58,180	57,848	58,090
Employed to not in labour force	2,603	2,883	2,694	2,870	2,591	2,802	2,504	2,729	2,860		2,536	2,766	2,503	2,732	2,920	2,455	2,611	2,501	2,331	2,289	2,441	2,551	2,440	2,270	2,230	2,785	2,501	2,333	2,504	2,520	2,178	2,672	2,588	2,437	2,655	2,435	2,730
Unemployed to not in labour force	760	893	964	816	1,010	940	813	850	847		875	873	830	864	828	918	874	760	736	819	743	766	889	797	824	719	856	791	819	635	802	709	728	751	755	680	636
Not in labour force to not in labour force	58,535	58,033	57,934	57,588	57,491	57,106	57,329	56,593	56,168		56,302	56,589	56,566	56,438	56,046	55,992	55,871	55,983	55,527	55,694	55,661	55,498	55,039	54,861	55,171	55,023	54,806	54,876	54,714	54,821	55,158	55,243	54,855	54,702	54,593	54,563	54,486
Other inflow to not in labour force	123	303	142	126	134	143	152	693	179		176	175	288	180	137	161	157	150	771	179	149	153	188	213	271	134	179	140	180	187	209	163	175	141	178	169	238
Employed to other outflow	11	103	11	11	11	11	11	11	11		11	11	78	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	24	58	11	11	11	11	11	12	11	11	11	11	11	36
Unemployed to other outflow	1	5	1	1	1	1	1	1	1		1	1	4	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2
Not in labour force to other outflow	113	186	113	113	113	113	113	112	111		111	111	163	111	111	111	111	111	109	109	109	109	109	119	145	109	109	109	109	109	109	108	108	108	108	108	128

Latest reading

Total employed stood at 162,746 thousand persons in Aug 2026. That is +0.4% from Jul 2026 and −0.4% from a year earlier. The series on this page is monthly and runs from Jan 1948 to Aug 2026. Source: FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis).

Latest: 162,746 thousand persons; Aug 2026
vs previous period: +0.4%; Jul 2026
vs a year earlier: −0.4%

About this data

US labour force flows and worker transitions between statuses from the BLS. This monthly table covers individuals transitioning between employed, unemployed, and not in the labour force, broken down by inflow and outflow sources. Data series go back to 1948 and are published via FRED. Examine worker turnover volume beneath the headline figures.

Frequently asked questions

What does the US labour force flows table measure?: It measures the number of individuals transitioning between consecutive months across three primary labour force statuses: employed, unemployed, and not in the labour force. The table tracks how many people retain their status versus how many move between different states.
How often is the US labour force flows data published and how far back does it go?: The data is published monthly by the BLS via FRED, with historical series starting in 1948. It updates with every official release.
Which breakdowns are available in this table?: The table provides disaggregation by total, men, and women. Each labour force status is broken down by inflow sources and outflow categories to capture detailed worker transitions.
How does this table differ from the standard US unemployment rate?: While the unemployment rate provides a static monthly snapshot of joblessness, the labour force flows table reveals the underlying worker turnover volume and transition dynamics between different labour market states.