Unemployment rates

Job gains at the end of 2003 brought down the unemployment rate

• The unemployment rate rose in the first eight months of 2003, when employment growth was weak, but fell at the end as the number of people with jobs surged ahead. For the year, the unemployment rate averaged 7.6%, down marginally (-0.1 percentage point) from 2002.
• In 2003, about 1.3 million people were unemployed. Most unemployed people were looking for work (89%) while the remaining unemployed were on temporary layoff and waiting for recall (7%) or waiting for a new job to start (4%).
• During the recession of the early 1980s, the unemployment rate jumped abruptly, increasing from 7.6% in 1981 to 11.9% in 1983. This is the highest rate registered over the last three decades. The unemployment rate peak in the recession of the early 1990s was slightly lower, at 11.4% in 1993.
• Because employment recovered slowly following the recession of the early 1990s, the subsequent decline in the unemployment rate was delayed until 1994. However, the strong job growth from 1996 to 2000 did much to drive down the unemployment rate. By 2000, it was at 6.8%, the lowest rate recorded in the past three decades.

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