# BLS API: Get unemployment rate > Gets the latest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate and labor-force counts for the United States or a state, with up to 24 months of history. Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by BLS. - Page: https://fous.com/methods/bls.gov/get-unemployment-rate - Method: `bls.gov/get_unemployment_rate`, version 1 - Website: bls.gov - Returns: unemployment rate, change from previous month, labor force, employed, unemployed, release date, BLS series IDs, optional monthly history - Effect: read (it gets data and changes nothing) - Sign-in: none needed - Cost: 1 credit per completed run (1ยข with pay as you go); failed runs are free ## Inputs | Field | Type | Required | In the run below | Description | |---|---|---|---|---| | `place` | string | no | `"Ohio"` | United States, a state name, or a two-letter state code. Example: Ohio. Default "United States". | | `months` | integer | no | `6` | Number of recent calendar months to list, up to 24. Example: 6. Default 1. | ## Output From a run on Oct 23, 2026, shortened. Its input: ```json { "place": "Ohio", "months": 6 } ``` Its output: ```json { "month": "2026-09", "place": "Ohio", "bls_url": "https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.nr0.htm", "history": [ { "month": "2026-09", "rate_percent": 3.4 }, { "month": "2026-08", "rate_percent": 3.3 }, { "month": "2026-07", "rate_percent": 3.4 } ], "employed": 5657390, "unemployed": 196349, "labor_force": 5853739, "release_date": "2026-10-20", "bls_series_ids": { "employed": "LASST390000000000005", "unemployed": "LASST390000000000004", "labor_force": "LASST390000000000006", "unemployment_rate": "LASST390000000000003" }, "rate_year_earlier_percent": 4.3, "unemployment_rate_percent": 3.4, "change_from_previous_month_percentage_points": 0.1 } ``` ## Run it From code, with a Fous API key in `FOUS_API_KEY`; the answer's `data` holds the output: ```bash curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"method":"bls.gov/get_unemployment_rate","input":{"place":"Ohio","months":6}}' ``` From an AI agent connected to the Fous MCP server: its `run` with the same method and input. To connect one, give it `set up https://fous.com/SKILL.md`. ## Ask your agent - What is the current seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Ohio, and how many people are in the labor force? - Show me the national jobless rate for the past 6 months with monthly history. - How did the unemployment rate in California change from last month, and what is the release date? - Give me the number of employed and unemployed people in Texas along with the latest labor force total. - On bls.gov, pull up the last 12 months of unemployment figures for the United States including the BLS series IDs. ## Input schema ```json { "type": "object", "properties": { "place": { "type": "string", "default": "United States", "description": "United States, a state name, or a two-letter state code. Example: Ohio." }, "months": { "type": "integer", "default": 1, "maximum": 24, "minimum": 1, "description": "Number of recent calendar months to list, up to 24. Example: 6." } } } ``` ## Output schema ```json { "type": "object", "required": [ "place", "month", "unemployment_rate_percent", "change_from_previous_month_percentage_points", "rate_year_earlier_percent", "labor_force", "employed", "unemployed", "release_date", "bls_url", "bls_series_ids" ], "properties": { "month": { "type": "string", "description": "Latest reported month (YYYY-MM)." }, "place": { "type": "string", "description": "United States or the state name." }, "bls_url": { "type": "string", "description": "BLS news release page." }, "history": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "month", "rate_percent" ], "properties": { "month": { "type": "string" }, "rate_percent": { "type": [ "number", "null" ] } }, "additionalProperties": false }, "description": "Recent calendar months newest first, returned when months exceeds 1." }, "employed": { "type": [ "integer", "null" ], "description": "Seasonally adjusted employed people." }, "unemployed": { "type": [ "integer", "null" ], "description": "Seasonally adjusted unemployed people." }, "labor_force": { "type": [ "integer", "null" ], "description": "Seasonally adjusted labor force in people." }, "release_date": { "type": "string", "description": "Date of the current monthly BLS news release (YYYY-MM-DD)." }, "bls_series_ids": { "type": "object", "required": [ "unemployment_rate", "labor_force", "employed", "unemployed" ], "properties": { "employed": { "type": "string" }, "unemployed": { "type": "string" }, "labor_force": { "type": "string" }, "unemployment_rate": { "type": "string" } }, "description": "BLS series IDs used for the figures.", "additionalProperties": false }, "rate_year_earlier_percent": { "type": [ "number", "null" ], "description": "Rate for the same month one year earlier, percent." }, "unemployment_rate_percent": { "type": "number", "description": "Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, percent." }, "change_from_previous_month_percentage_points": { "type": [ "number", "null" ], "description": "Difference from the previous calendar month in percentage points; null if unavailable." } }, "additionalProperties": false } ``` ## See more - [BLS API: Get inflation rate](https://fous.com/methods/bls.gov/get-inflation-rate.md): Gets the latest U.S. Consumer Price Index inflation for a spending category, with up to 24 recent months of history. Monthly changes are seasonally adjusted; 12-month changes are not. - [BLS API: Get occupation wages](https://fous.com/methods/bls.gov/get-occupation-wages.md): Finds the latest published BLS pay and employment for an occupation in the US, a state, or a metro area, and compares it with the national median. - [BLS API: Get occupation outlook](https://fous.com/methods/bls.gov/get-occupation-outlook.md): Finds the best-matching Occupational Outlook Handbook profile for a job title and returns its pay, entry requirements, jobs and 10-year outlook. - [BLS API: Convert US dollars between months with CPI](https://fous.com/methods/bls.gov/calculate-inflation.md): Converts a US dollar amount from one month or annual average to another using the US city average CPI-U for all items, not seasonally adjusted. Defaults to the latest published month. - [U.S. Department of Labor API: Get minimum wage](https://fous.com/methods/dol.gov/get-minimum-wage.md): Gets a US state's or the federal hourly minimum wage from the Department of Labor, with the tipped cash wage and maximum tip credit, future dated increases, notes and the page's update date. - [FRED API: Search economic series](https://fous.com/methods/fred.stlouisfed.org/search-indicators.md): Searches FRED economic series by topic, ordered by popularity, and returns each series' coverage dates, units, frequency and last update. FRED does not publish a popularity score on these pages, so it is null. - [GasBuddy API: Get average gas prices](https://fous.com/methods/gasbuddy.com/get-average-gas-prices.md): Gets GasBuddy's latest reported average regular gas price, its changes and the diesel benchmark for a US state or a listed metro area. Midgrade, premium and area low/high prices are not published with these averages; updates may lag the current day. - [Trading Economics API: Get country economic overview](https://fous.com/methods/tradingeconomics.com/get-country-overview.md): Returns seven key economic indicators for a country from its public Trading Economics overview: GDP growth rate, inflation rate, interest rate, unemployment rate, government debt to GDP, currency and stock market. Indicators absent from the overview are null; the US dollar index is not reported as a USD exchange rate. - [All BLS methods](https://fous.com/methods/bls.gov.md)