Examine how unemployment and inflation changed over the year 2012/13 - Essay Example

How unemployment and inflation changed over the year 13 Grade How unemployment and inflation changed over the year2012/13Unemployment and inflation are important economic indicators that are used by economists in assessing the economic situations of a country or the global economy. The bureau of labor statistics releases statistics on economic trends that helps in providing a clear picture of how thee economy is performing.Before discussing the changes, it is important to define what inflation and unemployment is.

Inflation refers to increase in prices of goods and service over a certain period. Therefore, more money is required to purchase goods and service due to deprecation of value of the currency (Statista. 2013). On the other hand, unemployment refers to person aged below 16 years, ready to work, except when they are ill and have made efforts during the 4 weeks before the reference week. Those people waiting to be recalled after being laid off must have been looking for job to be categorized as unemployed.

The rate of unemployment has remained relatively constant in the year 2012 at 7.8 percent. The rate of unemployment tended to reduce over the years as more focus has been taken on the population and labor force issues (Econedlink. 2013). In 2013, the rate of unemployment declined a little bit showing a positive sign of reducing the rate of unemployment. This is depicted in the graph belowSource: Bureau of labor statisticsFrom the figure above, in 2012 the rate of unemployment was around 7.85 percent.

It decreased as 2013 was ushered in. It’s also important to note that this unemployment rate is contributed by different factors such as race, sex, gender, skills and competence among others.Inflation also affected the economy of US in 2012 as well as 2013. The rate of inflation from January 2012 to January 2013 has oscillated between 2.9 percent to 1.4 percent as the lowest. For instance, the inflation rates was as follows during 2012; January 2.90%, February, 2.90%, March 2.70%, April, 2.

30%, May 1.70%, June 1.70%, July, 1.40%, August 1.70%, September 2%, October 2.20%, November 1.80%, December 1.70%, January 2013 1.60% (Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2013). This fluctuation is because of the efforts to stabilize the US currency against other major currencies. The rate of changes in price index is more or the less equal throughout the period. It shows decrease in purchasing powers of money by people due to poor performance of the dollars.Table showing changes in inflation rate form January 2012 to 2013Month Jan 2012Feb 2012March 2012April 2012May 2012Jun 2012July 2012Aug 2012Sep 2012Oct 2012Nov 2012Dec 2012Jan 2013Inflation rate (%)2.92.92.72.31.71.71.41.722.21.81.71.6Source: Bureau of labor statisticsReference listBureau of Labor Statistics. 2013. Overview of BLS statistics on unemployment.

Retrieved from: http://www.bls.gov/bls/unemployment.htmEconedlink. 2013. Focus on economic data: US employment and unemployment rate, December 2012. Retrieved form: http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?lid=1142&type=educatorStatista. 2013, ‘Monthly inflation rate in the United States from January 2012 to January 2013. Retrieved form: http://www.statista.com/statistics/191086/unadjusted-monthly-inflation- rate-in-the-us-since-april-2010/