[PEN-L:2046] Re: unemployment

[Doug Henwood <dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ellen T. Frank wrote:

>I remember reading somewhere that the average unemployment rate in the US
>in the latter half of the 1800s was probably around 20%.  Anyone else seen
>this figure?  Any comparables for England?

The earliest numbers in Historical Statistics of the U.S. are for 1890; the
NBER website doesn't have anything earlier than 1903.

1890	4.0%
1891	5.4%
1892	3.0%
1893	11.7%
1894	18.4%
1895	13.7%
1896	14.4%
1897	14.5%
1898	12.4%
1899	6.5%

Doug