Who is employed, who is unemployed, and who’s not in the labor force? Data that answer these questions are reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) using the Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted by the US Census. FRED has monthly data on the CPS starting on January 1, 1948, which translates into 906 data points between that date and July 1, 2023. Today, we use that happenstance to celebrate this, our 906th FRED Blog post. Yes, we are that data-nerdy.
Take a look back and you’ll see that the FRED Blog has tapped into many of the 8,449 data series from the Household Survey of the CPS to tell the stories behind those numbers. Here’s a sample, including the FRED graph above for the unemployment rate, the most popular series among them on FRED:
- Civilian Labor Force: Are labor supply and labor demand out of balance?
- Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate: Labor force participation rates of armed forces veterans
- Employment: Employment growth after the macro disruptions of COVID and World War II
- Employment Population Ratio: What’s the story behind who’s working?
- Unemployment Level: Ceasing emergency federal unemployment benefits: A look at the latest state-level data
- Unemployment Rate: Comparing unemployment rates by race: The Great Recession vs. COVID-19
- Not in Labor Force: A greater number of workers still remain outside the labor force
- Labor Force Participation Rate: A closer look at labor in the U.S.
- Multiple Jobholders: Moonlighting in the spotlight
- Duration of Unemployment: The unusual duration of unemployment
- Losers and Leavers: Unemployed Job Leavers: A Meaningful Gauge of Confidence in the Job Market? (from the BLS)
- Earnings: Trying to measure manager vs. non-manager pay
- Entrants and Reentrants: Labor Market Exit and Re-Entry: Is the United States Poised for a Rebound in the Labor Force Participation Rate? (from the Boston Fed)
- Labor Force Status Flows: How labor market flows changed
Stay tuned to the FRED Blog as we continue to tap into the CPS to tell interesting stories about the labor market.
How this graph was created: On the FRED homepage, look for the most popular series and click on the unemployment rate. Click on the first choice.
Suggested by Diego Mendez-Carbajo.
