Federal Reserve officials gathering at the annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, this week can take some satisfaction that the U.S. unemployment rate, at 4.3%, remains low by historical standards. But it usually is: The U.S. experience of unemployment since the late 1940s has involved jobless rates that far more often than not are below the 5.7% long-run average, until they rise fast and far above it, a phenomenon Fed officials are worried about repeating. The steady rise in the unemployment rate from 3.7% in January of 2023 to 4.3% as of July 2024 has also been accompanied by an increase of 1.2 million in the number of people looking for work - something that is usually considered a positive sign for the economy but that can cause the unemployment rate to rise.
