PAYEMSNonfarm Payrolls (PAYEMS) — Current Value & Historical Data
Nonfarm Payrolls (PAYEMS) Chart & Data Table
Gray bands: NBER recessions
What is Nonfarm Payrolls (PAYEMS)?
Total nonfarm payroll employment counts the number of paid U.S. workers excluding farm employees, private-household workers, and nonprofit employees, published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics from a survey of roughly 145,000 businesses and government agencies. The month-over-month change in payrolls — released the first Friday of each month at 8:30 a.m. ET alongside the unemployment rate — is one of the most market-moving economic releases, regularly moving Treasury yields, equities, and the dollar within seconds of the print. The series hit a record high above 155 million jobs in 2024 after the economy recovered all 22 million jobs lost during the April 2020 COVID-19 collapse. Benchmark revisions each February reconcile the monthly survey estimates against state unemployment-insurance records and can produce cumulative adjustments in the hundreds of thousands.
Current Nonfarm Payrolls (PAYEMS) Value
As of June 1, 2026, the current all employees, total nonfarm is 158984.00 Thousands of Persons. This is the most recent observation available for this series, updated monthly.
Nonfarm Payrolls Historical Trend
All Employees, Total Nonfarm rose 0.04% month-over-month. Over the past year, all employees, total nonfarm rose 0.31% from May 2025. In the series' tracked history, the highest recorded value was 158984.00 (June 2026), and the lowest was 29923.00 (January 1939).
Why Nonfarm Payrolls matters for government spending
Payrolls are the tax base behind a large share of federal revenue. Every job on this count generates federal income-tax withholding and the payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare, so payroll growth feeds receipts directly while job losses shrink them. Employment also governs automatic-stabilizer spending in the other direction: fewer payrolls mean more unemployment-insurance and safety-net outlays. Because Social Security and Medicare are financed mainly by payroll taxes, sustained job growth is central to the solvency math of those trust funds.
Methodology & Source
Source
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Frequency
Monthly
Units
Thousands of Persons
Notes
All Employees: Total Nonfarm, commonly known as Total Nonfarm Payroll, is a measure of the number of U.S. workers in the economy that excludes proprietors, private household employees, unpaid volunteers, farm employees, and the unincorporated self-employed. This measure accounts for approximately 80...
Frequently Asked Questions About Nonfarm Payrolls (PAYEMS)
What is the current all employees, total nonfarm?
As of June 1, 2026, all employees, total nonfarm stands at 158984.00 Thousands of Persons.
Where does all employees, total nonfarm data come from?
All Employees, Total Nonfarm data is sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) system and related U.S. government agencies. Data quality and historical coverage vary by series.
How often is all employees, total nonfarm updated?
This series is updated according to its publication schedule. Check FRED or the source agency for the most current release calendar.
What is the historical high and low for all employees, total nonfarm?
In the available data, the highest value was 158984.00 Thousands of Persons in June 2026, and the lowest was 29923.00 Thousands of Persons in January 1939.
How has all employees, total nonfarm changed over the past year?
Over the past year, all employees, total nonfarm increased 0.31%.
See Nonfarm Payrolls in context
PAYEMS is tracked on the Labor Market dashboard, alongside related indicators and historical context.
View the Labor Market dashboard →Related government-spending dashboards
How Nonfarm Payrolls connects to the federal budget across GOVSPENDING.ORG:
Federal Debt
Total public debt, debt held by the public, and intragovernmental holdings.
Receipts vs Outlays
Federal revenue, spending, and the resulting surplus or deficit over time.
Congressional Activity
Recent legislation, appropriations, and fiscal-related bills in Congress.
Interest Expense vs Revenue
How rising debt service costs crowd out federal spending as a share of receipts over time.
Revenue Composition
Federal receipts broken down by source — individual income, corporate, social insurance, excise taxes, and customs duties as shares of total revenue.
Agency Spending (FY 2019 vs FY 2024)
Net outlays by federal agency for FY 2019 and FY 2024, from the Treasury Monthly Treasury Statement. Both nominal and inflation-adjusted comparisons.
Related Indicators
Compare Nonfarm Payrolls with related indicators
See how Nonfarm Payrolls stacks up against related series in a side-by-side chart and explainer: