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Unemployment rate: United States, Canada and Mexico compared

Share of the labour force without work, nationally and for each state, province and estado. Each figure keeps its own source, reference period and definition; read the notes before comparing.

National values

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, series LNS14000000: Unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted. Reference period: 2025 (average of 11 published months, derived by Quadranac).

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 14-10-0327-01: Labour force characteristics by gender and detailed age group, annual. Reference period: 2025.

Source: INEGI, Encuesta Nacional de Ocupación y Empleo (ENOE), población de 15 años y más, tasa de desocupación; Banco de Información Económica indicator 303259. Reference period: 2026 Q2.

States, provinces and estados

United States Canada Mexico (hatched)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS), statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, series LASSTxx0000000000003 (xx = state FIPS code). Reference period: 2025.

Source: Statistics Canada, Table 14-10-0327-01: Labour force characteristics by gender and detailed age group, annual. Reference period: 2025.

Source: INEGI, Encuesta Nacional de Ocupación y Empleo (ENOE), población de 15 años y más, tasa de desocupación; Banco de Información Económica indicator 303259. Reference period: 2026 Q2.

How the countries differ

• Age thresholds differ: the U.S. rate covers people 16 and older; Canada's and Mexico's cover people 15 and older.
• Reference periods differ: U.S. figures are averages of the published months (derived); Canada's are annual Labour Force Survey estimates; Mexico's are for a single quarter (ENOE, not seasonally adjusted).
• Definitions (each rate is the unemployed as a share of the labour force; the unemployed are broadly people without work who are available and recently searched for work, with some exceptions noted): United States, people 16 and older who were not employed in the survey reference week, were available, and "made at least one specific, active effort to find a job during the 4-week period ending with the survey reference week", or were on temporary layoff expecting recall (BLS, CPS Concepts and Definitions). Canada, people 15 and older who "were without work, but had looked for work in the past four weeks ending with the reference period and were available for work"; people on temporary layoff and people with a job to start within four weeks are also counted (Statistics Canada, Guide to the Labour Force Survey 2025). Mexico, people 15 and older not employed in the week before the interview whose last job search was within one month: if the period "comprende hasta un mes se considera que la persona es desocupada" (INEGI, ENOE N Diseño conceptual, 3rd ed. 2022, PDF).
• All three follow broadly ILO-based definitions, but survey design differs; treat cross-country rankings as indicative.
• Some estados show very low rates, such as Oaxaca at 0.8% in 2026 Q2. This value was checked directly against INEGI's ENOE data and is as published. The measure counts only people actively searching for work, so it can be low where many people work informally.

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