South By North Strategies, Ltd.

A recent study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond asks how unemployment rates during the current recession compare to those from other postwar recessions. Because the current labor force is older, direct comparisons of  unemployment rates generate misleading perceptions unless the numbers are adjusted for age differences. Making those adjustments (graph, below) shows that the national unemployment rate during the fourth quarter of 2009 equaled 11.7 percent, which is the highest rate recorded since 1948.