The article presents the socio-economic essence of the concept of unemployment as one of the threats to the economic security of the Russian Federation. A study of the distinctive features of the phenomenon of unemployment has been conducted. The analysis of the dynamics of the unemployment rate in the federal districts of the Russian Federation for the period from 2019 to 2022 is carried out. The changes in the unemployment rate in the country relative to the level of the economically active population, the change in the number of unemployed by gender, as well as the comparison of the unemployment rate and the number of economic crimes in the Russian Federation are analyzed. Possible directions of reducing the number of unemployed population have been identified.