Ashby Daniels

The job market is three months from a record

What we hear in the media doesn't always line up with the facts. Often it doesn't come close. For a while now, one of the steady undercurrents in fear-driven headlines has been the job market, and the idea that it's always on the verge of collapse.

But as of September, US unemployment had stayed below 5% for 61 straight months. That's three months short of the longest streak on record, set from 1965 to 1970. The chart below shows it.

Bar chart of the longest US stretches of unemployment below 5%, in months. March 1965 to June 1970 leads at 64 months. The current stretch, September 2021 to September 2026, is second at 61. Next are July 1997 to August 2001 at 50, August 1950 to January 1954 and October 2016 to March 2020 at 42 each, January 1955 to October 1957 at 34, December 2005 to November 2007 at 24, and May to December 1973 at 8.
Longest US stretches of unemployment below 5%, in months, 1950–September 2026. Apollo, Torsten Slok, using Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Apollo's chief economist, Torsten Slok, says we're close to "the longest period of sustained labor market strength in modern US history."