UNU-MERIT Working Papers Series
Impact of the Great Recession on industry unemployment: a 1976-2011 comparison
Yelena Takhtamanova & Eva Sierminska #2017-003This paper studies the mechanisms driving the persistently high
unemployment rate during the last recession and mild recovery. Previous
studies have examined the demographic aspect of the recession. We focus
on specific industries. Consequently, we propose a methodology to
decompose changes in the unemployment rate into worker inflows and
outflows across industry groups and outline the unique characteristics
of the latest recession (including examining cyclical and structural
forces). We use harmonized-reclassified industry data for 1976-2011 in
the United States, which allows us to make comparisons previously not
possible.
JEL Classification: J11, J62
Keywords: Unemployment, Worker Flows, Job Finding Rate, Separation Rate,
Industry
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