BLS says 4.9 million families had an unemployed member in 2025

One lost job rarely stays a one-person problem. It can change how a Target worker swaps shifts, lines up childcare and pays the bills when another adult in the house is still clocking in but the budget has already tightened.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said 5.7 percent of the nation’s 85.9 million families included an unemployed person in 2025, up from 5.3 percent in 2024. That worked out to 4.9 million families with at least one unemployed family member, an increase of 367,000 from the year before. Among those families, 71.8 percent also had at least one employed member and 63.2 percent had a member working full time, showing that unemployment was often landing inside households that were still trying to keep a paycheck flowing.

The broader family picture was still tight. BLS said 79.8 percent of all U.S. families had at least one employed member in 2025, down 0.3 percentage point from 2024. The Current Population Survey, a monthly survey of about 60,000 households, also showed uneven exposure across race and ethnicity: 9.0 percent of Black families had an unemployed person, compared with 7.7 percent of Hispanic families, 5.8 percent of Asian families and 5.0 percent of White families. BLS said Black and Hispanic families remained more likely than White or Asian families to have an unemployed member.

For Target Corporation, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that household math helps explain why schedule predictability and flexible access to hours matter so much on the front line. Target says eligible team members can get medical, vision and dental coverage, no-cost 24/7 virtual care, education assistance and a 401(k) match of dollar for dollar up to 5 percent of pay with immediate vesting. Its pay-and-benefits materials also tie those investments to “reliable scheduling,” a signal that the company sees stable hours as part of the employee deal, not an afterthought.

Target’s On-Demand store roles let team members pick up available shifts through the myTime scheduling app or website, and myTime lets workers view schedules and timecards, set availability preferences, request coverage and pick up shifts. A 2023 seasonal staffing fact sheet said Target had about 43,000 On-Demand store team members, underscoring how important flexible labor is to the business. In a household absorbing unemployment, that kind of access can make the difference between a rough week and a manageable one, which is why pay, benefits and scheduling are inseparable on the sales floor.