Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Figure 1: Unemployment Rate

This is a line chart titled “Unemployment Rate”. The x-axis ranges from January 1990 to December 2020; in one-year increments. The y-axis is in percent and ranges from 3% to 12%. There is a single variable in the chart which is of monthly frequency. This variable is designated by a solid black line. The movement of this series looks essentially looks like three parabolas-opening downwards-next to one another. From 1990 to 2000, the series begins at 5.4%, has a local maximum in 1992 at around 8% and then ends at a local minimum of around 4% in 2000. From 2001 to 2008, the series begins at roughly 4%, has a local maximum in 2004 at around 6.5% and then ends at a local minimum of roughly 4.5%. From 2009 to the present, the series begins at roughly 4.5%, has a global maximum in 2009 at around 10% and then ends at a global minimum of roughly 3.5%. The series does not include the COVID-19 pandemic.

Figure 2: Unemployment Rate by Race and Ethnicity

This is a line chart titled “Unemployment Rate by Race and Ethnicity”. The X-axis ranges from the year 1990 to the year 2020. The Y-axis ranges from 0% to 20%. The data in question is monthly in its frequency. There are a total of four variables in the plot. The first variable-represented by a solid red line-is the unemployment rate for persons of Black/African American ancestry, the second-as represented by a dotted green line-is for persons considered Latino or Hispanic, the third-as represented by a dotted purple line-is for persons of Asian ancestry, and the fourth-as represented by a solid blue line-is for persons of white ancestry. All series besides the third (Asian) begin in 1990 while the third begins in 2003. All series follow the same behavior, they only differ in their level. This behavior follows as: beginning at a local maximum in 1990, slowly decreasing to a local minimum in 2001, increasing slightly until 2005, then decreasing to a local minimum in early 2008 before exploding to global maximums in early 2010, finally slowly decreasing to their global minimums. The level of the series can be described by the minimum, mean, and maximum of themselves, the minimum, mean and maximum for series one (African American) is roughly 4.8% ,11.5%, and 21.2%. The minimum, mean and maximum for series two (Hispanic or Latino) is roughly 3.9% ,8.5%, and 19%. The minimum, mean and maximum for series three (Asian) is roughly 2% ,4.6%, and 15%. The minimum, mean and maximum for series four (White) is roughly 3% ,5.2%, and 14.2%.

Figure 3: Unemployment Rate by Educational Attainment

This is a line chart titled “Unemployment Rate by Educational Attainment”. The X-axis ranges from the year 1992 to the year 2020. The Y-axis ranges from 0% to 17%. The data in question is monthly in its frequency. There are a total of four variables in the plot. The first variable-represented by a solid red line-is the unemployment rate for persons of with less than high school education, the second-as represented by a dotted green line-is for persons with high school education only, the third-as represented by a dotted blue line-is for persons with some college, and the fourth-as represented by a solid purple line-is for persons with a Bachelor’s degree or higher. All series follow the same behavior, they only differ in their level. This behavior follows as: beginning at a local maximum in 1990, slowly decreasing to a local minimum in 2001, increasing slightly until 2005, then decreasing to a local minimum in early 2008 before exploding to global maximums in early 2010, finally slowly decreasing to their global minimums. The level of the series can be described by the minimum, mean, and maximum of themselves, the minimum, mean and maximum for series one (Less than high school) is roughly 4.8%, 8.8%, and 15.8%. The minimum, mean and maximum for series two (High school only) is roughly 3.2%, 5.6%, and 11%. The minimum, mean and maximum for series three (some college) is roughly 2.4%, 4.6%, and 9%. The minimum, mean and maximum for series four (bachelor’s or higher) is roughly 1.5%, 2.8%, and 5%.

Figure 4: Prime Age labor Force Participation Rate by Gender

This is a line chart titled “Prime Age labor Force Participation Rate by Gender”. The X-axis ranges from the year 1990 to the year 2020. There are two Y-axis. The left corresponds to series one and ranges from 88 to 94 in percent. The right corresponds to series two and ranges from 70 to 80 in percent. The data in question is monthly in its frequency. There are a total of two variables in the plot. The first variable-represented by a solid black line-is the prime age labor force participation rate for men and the second-as represented by a dotted red line-is the prime age labor force participation rate for women. The first series (men) begins at 94% and consistently- almost in a linear manner-decreases until 2014 where it reaches its global minimum of 88% The series then slowly increases to 89% in 2020. The second series (women) has a different behavior. This series closely resembles a sinusoidal wave with a minimum in 1990 at roughly 74%, a maximum at roughly 77%, and a period of about 20 years.

Figure 5: Nominal Wage Growth by Earnings Quartile

This is a line chart titled “Nominal Wage Growth by Earnings Quartile”. The X-axis ranges from the year 1998 to the year 2020. The Y-axis ranges from 0% to 8%. The data in question is monthly in its frequency. There are a total of four variables in the plot. The first variable-represented by a solid red line-is the nominal wage growth for those up to 1st quartile, the second-as represented by a dotted green line- is the nominal wage growth for those up to the 2nd quartile(median), the third-as represented by a dotted blue line- is the nominal wage growth for up to the 3rd quartile, and the fourth-as represented by a solid purple line- is the nominal wage growth for up to the 4th quartile (max). All series roughly follow the same behavior although series one deviates at certain points. This behavior follows as: beginning at its maximum of roughly 5% in 1998, slowly decreasing to a saddle point in mid-2008 at 4.5%, flattening out for roughly two years, then sharply decreasing to a minimum of roughly 2% in early 2012 before slowly increasing to an ending value of roughly 4%. Series one deviates from 1998 to 2003, from 2008 to 2009, and from 2016 to 2020 by being of greater value than the other three and deviates from 2012 to 2015 by being of lower value than the other three.

Figure 6: Unemployment Rate (Recent)

Figure 7: Quits Rate

Figure 8: Available Jobs and Available Workers

Figure 9: Unemployment Rate by Race and Ethnicity (Difference from 2019)

Figure 10: Prime Age Labor Force Participation Rate by Gender (Difference from 2019)

Figure 11: Nominal Wage Growth, by Earnings Quartile(Recent)

Figure 12: Nominal Wage Growth by Race

Figure 13: Initial Claims

This is a line chart titled “Initial Claims”. The x-axis ranges from January 1990 to January 2025; in one-year increments. The y-axis is in thousands and ranges from 0 to 1000 (1 million). There is a single variable in the chart which is of weekly frequency. This variable is designated by a solid black line. The chart experiences very high volatility during the recessions of 1990, 2001, 2008, and 2020. The first recession in 1990 saw the series jump from under 400 thousand to 500 thousand, before slowly returning to 300 thousand. The second recession in 2001 saw the value jump up to roughly 550 thousand before returning to 300 thousand over the next five years. The third recession in 2008 saw the series jump to roughly 700 thousand before slowly returning to 300 thousand around ten years later. The final recession-known as the COVID-19 recession-sees the series reach outside the graph, recurringly reaching above one million. Outside of these recessions, the series stays roughly at 300 thousand, with roughly a range of 80 thousand.