Factors Affecting the Unemployment Rate

Unemployment rates refer to the number of people who have been verified as being with no employment and who have actively tried to secure employment within the current past without success. This means that these categories of people are willing and able to work but there are no employment opportunities. The unemployed group of people does not include people who have no jobs and have not been trying to get employed. Thus to be termed as unemployed there must be some demonstration of efforts to gain employment (Trading Economics).

The bureau of labor statistics has collected the primary data on the levels of unemployment so as to help the government plan. The table and chart below represents the secondary data on the changing rates of unemployment in the United States of America for ten years (2000-2010).

Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Percentage Change 4.0 4.7 5.8 6.0 5.5 5.1 4.6 4.6 5.8 9.3 9.6

Within the chart, on the x-axis are the years while on the y-axis is the percentages of unemployment (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

The chart indicates that the unemployment rates have been rising steadily for the last ten years save for the small period between 2003 and 2006. This means that the percentages of qualified, able, and willing to work number of people has risen steadily over the last decade. The decade ends with a sharp rise of unemployment compared to the early years of the decade. The steady increase in unemployment rates have been attributed to a number of reasons. Some of them include:

Economic recession

Economic recession is a sphere financial crisis which affects the economic performance of a country (Visual economics). According to the chart, the unemployment rates in the Un...

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http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate

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http://www.visualeconomics.com/a-decade-of-unemployment/