Unemployment Rate
US civilian unemployment rate (%, monthly)
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Category | macro |
| Unit | % |
| Resolution | 1d |
| Assets | MACRO |
| Tier | Basic |
| API Endpoint | GET /v1/macro/employment |
| Field | unemployment_rate |
Overview
US civilian unemployment rate (FRED UNRATE), the U-3 measure of unemployed persons as a share of the labour force. Monthly frequency, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The most widely cited labour-market indicator and one half of the Fed's dual mandate.
Interpretation
- Low and stable rate (3–4%): tight labour market, expansion regime, often associated with rising inflation pressure.
- Rising rate (sustained moves >0.5pp from cycle low): "Sahm Rule" trigger, historically a near-perfect recession signal.
- Falling rate from cycle peaks: recovery regime, often coincides with the start of risk-on rotations into BTC.
Use Cases
- Use as the headline labour-market input for BTC macro models.
- Combine with
macro_initial_claimsandmacro_manufacturing_employmentto triangulate labour-market regime. - Watch for Sahm-Rule triggers as historical leading signals of Fed pivots that have coincided with major BTC trend changes.
API Usage
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
"https://api.blocklens.co/v1/macro/employment?start_date=2024-01-01&end_date=2024-12-31&limit=365"
Related Metrics
- Initial Jobless Claims — Initial unemployment insurance claims (thousands, weekly)
- Manufacturing Employment — All employees, manufacturing (thousands of persons, monthly)
- Fed Funds Target Rate — US federal funds upper-bound target rate (%, daily)
- Real GDP Growth (QoQ Annualized) — Real GDP growth, quarter-over-quarter annualized (%, quarterly)