South region · state data

Delaware unemployment rate and jobs

Delaware's unemployment rate was 4.6% in Sep 2026, 0.4 percentage points above the U.S. rate of 4.2%. That was down from 5.2% a year earlier.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Local Area Unemployment Statistics and Current Employment Statistics) via FRED®. Monthly data, seasonally adjusted. Latest observation Sep 2026; snapshot taken Oct 27, 2026, 2:15 AM EDT.

Unemployment rate (Sep 2026)

4.6%

U.S. rate, same month

4.2%

Difference from U.S.

+0.4 pt

A year earlier

5.2%

Rank (1 = lowest rate)

40th of 51

Nonfarm jobs (Sep 2026)

495,800

Job growth, 12 months

+0.3%

Record low rate

2.9% (Feb 1989)

Unemployment rate: Delaware vs. the U.S.

4.6% Sep 2026 · Percent

Delaware unemployment rate U.S. unemployment rate

Percent of the labor force, seasonally adjusted. Delaware data from Jan 1976 to Sep 2026; the dashed line is the national rate (UNRATE).

How Delaware compares

In Sep 2026, Delaware had the 11th highest rate of the 51 states and DC (tied with Illinois). Across the 16 states and DC in the South region, the simple average was 4.0%, so Delaware was 0.6 points above it.

Since the state series began in 1976, Delaware's rate has ranged from a low of 2.9% in Feb 1989 to a high of 13.4% in May 2020. Just before the pandemic, in February 2020, it was 3.6%, 1.0 points lower than now. Over the last 12 months the rate averaged 5.1% and was above the national rate in 12 of them.

Jobs in Delaware

Employers in Delaware reported 495,800 nonfarm payroll jobs in Sep 2026, seasonally adjusted. That is 1,300 more than a year earlier (+0.3%), compared with +0.3% for the nation as a whole. Its 12-month job growth rate ranked 32nd of 51. The record high was 497,100 in May 2025. Compared with February 2020, payrolls are up 6.1%.

495.8K Sep 2026 · Thousands of persons

Total nonfarm payroll jobs, thousands, seasonally adjusted, from the BLS survey of employers. Data from Jan 1990.

Last 12 months in Delaware
Month	Unemployment rate	U.S. rate	Nonfarm jobs	Monthly job change
Sep 2026	4.6%	4.2%	495,800	-800
Aug 2026	4.7%	4.1%	496,600	+800
Jul 2026	4.8%	4.1%	495,800	-400
Jun 2026	4.9%	4.2%	496,200	-800
May 2026	5.1%	4.3%	497,000	+2,400
Apr 2026	5.3%	4.3%	494,600	-700
Mar 2026	5.4%	4.3%	495,300	+300
Feb 2026	5.4%	4.4%	495,000	-400
Jan 2026	5.4%	4.3%	495,400	+600
Dec 2025	5.3%	4.4%	494,800	+2,100
Nov 2025	5.3%	4.5%	492,700	-1,800
Sep 2025	5.2%	4.4%	494,500	-1,500

Record high unemployment rate: 13.4% (May 2020). Monthly figures are revised each year when BLS benchmarks the state data.

States with similar unemployment rates

Texas · 4.4%Minnesota · 4.5%Illinois · 4.6%Kentucky · 4.7%

Other South states

Alabama Arkansas District of Columbia Florida Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Mississippi North Carolina Oklahoma South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia West Virginia All 50 states and DC U.S. unemployment rate

This page shows public labor market data for general information. It is not financial or career advice and does not predict future values.

Sources

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Unemployment Rate in Delaware [DEUR], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DEUR, Oct 27, 2026.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, All Employees: Total Nonfarm in Delaware [DENA], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DENA, Oct 27, 2026.
View DEUR on FRED® · View DENA on FRED® · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics · BLS State and Metro Area Employment

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