Federal Reserve Economic Data

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Posts tagged with: "UEMP15T26"

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U.S. labor before FRED was born

A happy-birthday backward glance at 1991

Today, FRED celebrates its 28th birthday. On this happy occasion, the whole family (FRED, ALFRED, GeoFRED, and the little one, FREDcast) are gathering to read the 2018 Annual Report of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, much of which is dedicated to FRED.

Let’s look back at the U.S. economy before the birth of FRED (on April 18, 1991) and compare it with the economy of today. The graph above shows the unemployed according to the length of their unemployment spell: We can see there are many more long-term unemployed today. The second graph, which uses a dataset first released right after FRED was born, shows that the U.S. labor force has also become more educated.

We can’t offer our readers any cake, but we do have pie…charts. The two charts below compare men and women in the labor force and show that the share of women has increased a bit in the past 28 years. The change may not be obvious until you hover over the chart to verify it.

How these graphs were created: Start from the Current Population Survey, navigate to the release table you’re interested in, check the series you want displayed, and click “Add to Graph.” For the first two graphs, use the “Edit Graph” panel’s “Format” tab and select graph type “Area” with “Percent” stacked. Adjust the start date for the first graph. For the pie charts, chose graph type “Pie” and adjust the dates.

Suggested by Christian Zimmermann.

View on FRED, series used in this post: LNS11000025, LNS11000026, LNS12027659, LNS12027660, LNS12027662, LNS12027689, UEMP15T26, UEMP27OV, UEMP5TO14, UEMPLT5

A long-term unemployment problem

This FRED graph divides unemployed (civilian) workers according to the duration of their unemployment spell. The number of those unemployed for 27 weeks or more is still very high, while the other categories have recovered to normal levels. This level of persistently elevated unemployment is different from that during previous recessions, and there may even be some structural component to it, given how the long-term unemployed are still struggling.

How this graph was created: This graph uses a new feature of FRED: stacked areas. (You can also choose stacked lines or histograms.) Try this: Create a graph with several series, then select “normal” stacking in the graph settings. “Percent” stacking would show the shares of each category in the total number of civilians unemployed. Or try it by clicking on the “Customize” link below the graph.

Suggested by Christian Zimmermann

View on FRED, series used in this post: UEMP15T26, UEMP27OV, UEMP5TO14, UEMPLT5


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