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How long is the job search, really?

Time to reemployment in the US isn't one number — it depends heavily on where you are in your career. Here's what the latest labor-market data shows, by stage.

Typical search (median)

11.6 weeks

how long the typical unemployed worker is looking

Average search (mean)

26.0 weeks

pulled up by those who get stuck

Long-term unemployed

27.5%

searching 27+ weeks

Average time unemployed, by career stage

Average (mean) weeks unemployed, 2025 annual averages. Searches get longer with age — a late-career worker's average runs roughly 3× a new entrant's.

New grads / new entrants 16–24
~12–17
Early career 25–34
~26
Mid career 35–54
~32–34
Late career 55+
~35–39

The exception: new grads

Recent college graduates face the toughest entry market in years — unemployment near a three-year high, roughly 41% underemployed, and entry-level postings down about 15% year over year. Shorter individual searches, but a crowded, lower-quality on-ramp.

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Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Current Population Survey. Overall figures are May 2026, seasonally adjusted (median & mean duration, Table A-12; long-term share, 27+ weeks). By-career-stage figures are average (mean) duration, 2025 annual averages (Table A-31). Recent-graduate figures: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Labor Market for Recent College Graduates. BLS "duration" measures time for people currently still unemployed, so it understates completed time-to-reemployment.