The unemployment rate, since peaking at 10.0% during October 2009, today stands at 8.2%.

Though the rate has fallen, the average duration of unemployment has remained high. Today the average person who is unemployed has been out of work for 39.9 weeks (just over 9 months). This is down from the all time high of 40.4 set during September 2011, but is not much of an improvement.

Of all unemployed individuals, 42.1% have been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer. This figure has been greater than 40% since November 2009.

Of the 12,749,000 people currently unemployed, 5,370,000 have been jobless for at least 27 weeks.

While the unemployment rate has fallen nearly 2% since the fall of 2009, the percentage of people in the workforce has also fallen. Those not in the labor force are not counted as unemployed as they are not seeking employment. Today only 63.9% of all Americans are in the labor force (total non-institutionalized civilian population 16 years of age and over). This is the same rate as May 1983.