Data Exercise #2: Analyzing Unemployment and Inflation in the US

This economics report provides an analysis of unemployment and inflation rates in the United States, utilizing data from sources like the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It examines the unemployment rate across different demographics, including adult women, teenagers, blacks, Hispanics, and whites, noting fluctuations and trends over time. The report also delves into the inflation rate, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), highlighting categories of goods and services with the most and least price increases. Furthermore, the analysis extends to unemployment data by labor force groups, comparing unemployment rates for males and females in different age brackets and examining the duration of unemployment. The report concludes by discussing the economic and non-economic consequences of unemployment and inflation, emphasizing the importance of understanding these trends for effective economic policy and individual well-being. Desklib offers a variety of similar solved assignments and past papers for students.

Running head: ECONOMICS
Economics
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Course ID

1ECONOMICS
Table of Contents
Part 1: The Unemployment Rate.....................................................................................................2
Introduction..................................................................................................................................2
Analysis of employment data......................................................................................................2
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................3
Part 2: The Inflation rate..................................................................................................................4
Introduction..................................................................................................................................4
Analysis of inflation data.............................................................................................................4
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................5
Part 3: Unemployment Data by Labor Force Groups and Duration................................................5
Introduction..................................................................................................................................5
Analysis of labor market data......................................................................................................5
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

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Part 1: The Unemployment Rate
Introduction
Unemployment refers to scenario where people though look for jobs but are unable to
find a suitable job (Goodwin et al., 2015). The report discusses latest employment scenario in
United State. In addition to overall unemployment, focus has also been given on prevailing
unemployment among adult women, teenagers, blacks, Hispanics, and whites.
Analysis of employment data
The data summarized unemployment data for the month of February for the year 2019.
The unemployment rate for this month is recorded to be 3.8 percent (Bls.gov, 2019). The
unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point compared to the previous month with
recorded unemployment rate being 4.0 percent in the last month.
The unemployment rate for adult women is recorded to be 3.4. This is lower than the
recorded unemployment rate of 3.6 percent for adult women in the previous month. For
teenagers the unemployment rate is 13.4 percent. The recorded unemployment rate for teenagers
in the month of January was 12.9 percent. In case of blacks, Hispanics and whites, the recorded
unemployment rate are 7.0 percent, 4.3 percent and 3.3 percent respectively. For whites, rate of
unemployment in the previous month was a little higher of 3.5 percent (Bls.gov, 2019). The
unemployment rate for blacks in the previous months was lower with rate being 6.8 percent. The
unemployment rate for Hispanics in the previous month was higher at 4.9 percent.
The method used to determine unemployment rate can hide or reflect a relatively smaller
statistics regarding those who are actually not employed or would work if get the right

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opportunity. The seasonally adjusted unemployment or natural unemployment rate also misguide
unemployment statistics by making the rate larger than unemployment actually is.
Unemployment has several unintended consequences for the economy as whole. When
unemployment increases many people loss jobs and hence suffer from a decline in income. The
loss of income forces people to lower their expenditure, which adversely affect economic
growth. Widespread unemployment also aggravates the problem of poverty (Agenor & Montiel,
2015). Lower tax revenue and loss of human capital are other economic costs of unemployment.
The non-economic effect of widespread unemployment include the feeling of failure and
mental stress to the parents and their children, the sense of being useless in the society or of no
belonging.
Unemployment hit the hardest to the unemployed persons and their families (Case, Fair
& Oster, 2014). The low skilled poor workers losing their jobs are the immediate losers from
unemployment.
Conclusion
Evaluation of unemployment data reveals that overall unemployment rate has declined by
0.2 percentage point compared to previous month. There is a decline in unemployment for adult
women, white and Hispanics. In contrast, unemployment for teenagers and blacks have
documented an increase when compared with previous month. The incidence of unemployment
have both economic and non-economic consequences in a country.

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Part 2: The Inflation rate
Introduction
Inflation rate is a commonly use measure for tracing movement of overall price level in
an economy (Mankiw, 2014). The report briefly discusses the latest state of consumer price
inflation in United State. The discussion involves price movements of different categories of
good along with its impact on the society.
Analysis of inflation data
The data summarized consumer price index for all urban consumer for January 2019. The
recorded CPIU for this month is 251.712. Rate of inflation is computed as the percentage change
in consumer price index from one period to the next (Agenor & Montiel, 2015). The rate of
inflation for this month was 1.6 percent. The inflation rate in this month is lower than the
previous month by 0.2 percentage point (seasonally unadjusted measure).
The two categories of good or services recording the greatest increase in price are non-
alcoholic beverages and apparel. In case of non-alcoholic beverages, the CPI index rose by 0.8
percentage point. For apparel, the index increased by 1.1 percent.
Two categories of good or service recording the lowest price increase are gasoline and
fuel oil. Over the span, gasoline index declined by 10.1 percent while that of the index for fuel
oil declined by 8.1 percent (Bls.gov, 2019).
Inflation is situation where general price level in an economy records a gradual increase.
As price increases, the value of a certain sum of money declines. Some people in the economy
gain while others lose from inflation. The immediate losers from inflation are those whose

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income are fixed in nominal rate that is income does not vary with change in price level. Savers
and creditors lose during inflation.
Conclusion
The analysis reveals that inflation rate in United State declined by 0.2 percentage point in
the month of January. The decline in inflation rate mostly contributed from a decline in energy
price index especially for gasoline and fuel oil.
Part 3: Unemployment Data by Labor Force Groups and Duration
Introduction
The report compares distribution of unemployment among males and females between
the age group of 16 to 19 and over 20 years. Additionally, the report is also concerned with
duration of unemployment in the economy.
Analysis of labor market data
Table 1: Civilian unemployment rate for males and females
Year
Males Females
16 to 19 Over 20 16 to 19 Over 20
2000 14 3.3 12.1 3.6
2001 16 4.2 13.4 4.1
2002 18.1 5.3 14.9 5.1
2003 19.3 5.6 15.6 5.1
2004 18.4 5 15.5 4.9
2005 18.6 4.4 14.5 4.6
2006 16.9 4 13.8 4.1
2007 17.6 4.1 13.8 4
2008 21.2 5.4 16.2 4.9

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2009 27.8 9.6 20.7 7.5
2010 28.8 9.8 22.8 8
2011 27.2 8.7 21.7 7.9
2012 26.8 7.5 21.1 7.3
2013 25.5 7 20.3 6.5
2014 21.4 5.7 17.7 5.6
2015 18.4 4.9 15.5 4.8
2016 17.1 4.5 14.3 4.4
2017 15.5 4 12.5 4
(Source: Govinfo.gov, 2019)
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Unemployment rate for Males
16 to 19 Over 20
Year
Unemployment rate
Figure 1: Unemployment among males for age group 16 to 19 and for 20 and above
(Source: Govinfo.gov, 2019)

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2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
0
5
10
15
20
25
Unemployment rate for Females
16 to 19 Over 20
Year
Unemployment rate
Figure 2: Unemployment among females for age group 16 to 19 and for 20 and
above
(Source: Govinfo.gov, 2019)
The lowest unemployment rate was recorded in the year 2000 with unemployment rate
being 4.0 percent. The highest unemployment rate was recorded in the year 2010 with
unemployment rate being 9.6 percent. Among males aged 16 to 19, the recorded unemployment
was highest in 2010 (28.8%) and lowest in 2000 (14%). For males aged 20 and over,
unemployment rate was highest in 2010 (9.8%) and lowest in 2000 (3.3%) (Govinfo.gov, 2019).
In case of females, aged from 16 to 19, the highest and the lowest unemployment rate was
recorded in the year 2010 (22.8%) and 2000 (12.1%) respectively. For females aged 20 and
above highest and lowest unemployment was recorded in the year 2010 (8%) and 2000 (3.6%)
respectively.

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Table 2: Unemployment rate by duration
Year
Less
than 5
weeks
5–14
weeks
15–26
weeks
27
weeks
and
over
Average (mean)
duration
(weeks) 2
2000 2558 1815 669 649 12.6
2001 2853 2196 951 801 13.1
2002 2893 2580 1369 1535 16.6
2003 2785 2612 1442 1936 19.2
2004 2696 2382 1293 1779 19.6
2005 2667 2304 1130 1490 18.4
2006 2614 2121 1031 1235 16.8
2007 2542 2232 1061 1243 16.8
2008 2932 2804 1427 1761 17.9
2009 3165 3828 2775 4496 24.4
2010 2771 3267 2371 6415 33
2011 2677 2993 2061 6016 39.3
2012 2644 2866 1859 5136 39.4
2013 2584 2759 1807 4310 36.5
2014 2471 2432 1497 3218 33.7
2015 2399 2302 1267 2328 29.2
2016 2362 2226 1158 2005 27.5
2017 2270 2008 1017 1687 25
(Source: Govinfo.gov, 2019)

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2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
Duration of Unemployment
Less than 5 weeks 5–14 weeks 15–26 weeks 27 weeks and over
Year
Number of unemployed persons
Figure 3: Trends in duration of unemployment
(Source: Govinfo.gov, 2019)
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Average Duration of Unemployment
Average (mean) duration (weeks) 2
Year
Average Duration
Figure 4: Trends in average duration of unemployment
(Source: Govinfo.gov, 2019)

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The data on distribution of unemployment reveals that initially people were likely to be
unemployed for less than 5 weeks. The number of unemployed was least for duration 27 weeks
and over. It was until 2008, when people unemployed mostly for less than 5 weeks followed by
unemployment duration of 5 to 14 weeks, 27 weeks and above and 15-26 weeks (Govinfo.gov,
2019). Duration of unemployment for 27 weeks and above increased drastically since 2008,
indicating a situation of long-term unemployment. The average duration of unemployment
increases until 2012 and decline thereafter.
In United State, the unemployment problem is highly prevalent among teenagers and
minorities. Teenagers are the new entrants in the labor market. They lack the required skills and
therefore, need some time to get suitable jobs. They remain unemployed until they get suitable
jobs. Similar is the case for minorities. They face significant barriers in entering the US job
market. Minorities have lower chances of getting a job and hence, aggravates the problem of
unemployment (Heijdra, 2017). Therefore, increase in proportion of teenagers and minorities in
near future have the likely chance of increasing natural rate of unemployment in United State.
Conclusion
The unemployment data on civilian workers show that the labor market recorded highest
and lowest unemployment rate in the respectively. At the beginning of 2000, people are likely to
be unemployed for less 5 weeks. However, with passes of time duration of unemployment started
to increase indicating situation of long-term unemployment.

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References
Agenor, P. R., & Montiel, P. J. (2015). Development Macroeconomics Fourth
edition. Economics Books.
Bls.gov. (2019). Consumer Price Index. Retrieved from
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.toc.htm
Bls.gov. (2019). Employment Situation. Retrieved from
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm
Case, K. E., Fair, R. C., & Oster, S. M. (2014). Principles of macroeconomics. Pearson.
Goodwin, N., Harris, J. M., Nelson, J. A., Roach, B., & Torras, M. (2015). Macroeconomics in
context. Routledge.
Govinfo.gov. (2019). govinfo. Retrieved from https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/erp
Heijdra, B. J. (2017). Foundations of modern macroeconomics. Oxford university press.
Mankiw, N. G. (2014). Principles of economics. Cengage Learning.