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U.S. labor market shows gradual improvement in 2011
Eleni Theodossiou
Eleni Theodossiou is an economist in the Division of Labor Force Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Email: theodossiou.eleni@bls.gov.
Most major employment and unemployment indicators signaled improvement in the labor market in 2011; the unemployment level and rate fell, and employment was up over the year.
In 2011, the U.S. labor market continued to recover from the 2007–2009 recession.1 Employment growth accelerated while unemployment continued to trend downward. Still, despite the overall improvement, unemployment rates for most worker groups remained quite high at the end of the year, and the proportion of unemployed persons who had been without work for exceptionally long periods held close to historically high levels.
1 The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), generally recognized as the official arbiter of recessions in the United States, determined that the recent recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009.
Unemployment remains high in 2010.—Mar. 2011.
The labor market in 2009: recession drags on. —Mar. 2010.
U.S. labor market in 2008: economy in recession.—Mar. 2009.
Household survey indicators weaken in 2007.—Mar. 2008
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