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BPEA | 1973 No. 3

Recession and the Employment of Demographic Groups

1974, No. 3


RECENT INCREASES in the national unemployment rate and forecasts of higher rates throughout 1975 have brought unemploymenb tack into competition with inflation as the major economic problem. Since the three- and one-half-year low set in October 1973, aggregate unemployment has increased by almost 1.9 million people, raising the overall unemployment rate to 6.5 percent in November 1974. The reported rate among teenagers has risen from the October 1973 low of 14 percent to more than 17 percent; the rate among blacks is almost 12 percent; and the rate for black teenagers is over 37 percent. Further increases in unemployment over the next year are widely forecast and there is a natural concern that the already depressed groups will be hit the hardest.