Unemployment rate
Definition · Level 7 · Futures, rates & macro
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Share of the labor force — people working or actively looking — who have no job. The headline US figure (U-3) comes from the household survey in the monthly jobs report.
Example
3.9% → 4.2% in two months: the labor market is cooling.
Where Tradecraft teaches it
Level 7 · Futures, rates & macro, in the lesson “Macro data & market reaction”: The key US releases, what hot and cool prints mean, and why good news can hurt stocks.
Related terms
- Core CPIConsumer price index excluding food and energy: the monthly BLS inflation measure traders watch most, reported m/m and y/y.
- DeflationA sustained fall in the general price level (negative CPI y/y).
- GDPGross domestic product: the total value of goods and services an economy produces.
- Good news is bad newsMarket regime where strong economic data hurts stocks because it implies higher rates for longer: higher yields and discount rates outweigh the…
- Hot printA data release stronger or more inflationary than consensus (the median forecast).
- InflationA sustained rise in the general price level, eroding the purchasing power of money and of fixed coupons.