To realize the "establishment of a sound job demand investigation and unemployment monitoring early-warning mechanism" proposed in the 14th Five-Year Plan, it is of practical signifi cance to use big data for unemployment monitoring. After summarizing the theoretical basis of employment and unemployment domestically and internationally, this study, employing literature analysis and interviews, analyzes the application logic of unemployment monitoring based on big data. The study further sorts out relevant practices and prominent issues at home and abroad, and provides references for the establishment of a sound unemployment early-warning mechanism. The research proposes an optimizing path for unemployment monitoring based on big data: fi rst, set up a three-way cooperation mechanism guided by the government, with website-provided data and academic guidance; second, check and classify internet media of the domestic labor market such as recruitment websites, quickly develop and construct search engine keyword libraries, and incorporate professional social think tanks, and fi nally, strengthen government regulatory efforts.