The United States unemployment rate reached a post–World War II high of 9.7 percent in 1982. It remained high at 9.6 percent in 1983 as a result of the most severe economic recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The unemployment rate then dropped, approaching 5 percent in 1989, but again began increasing, reaching 7 percent in 1991 and rising almost to 8 percent in 1992. As the economy improved, the rate fell to 6.9 percent in 1993. By 1998 the U.S. unemployment rate had dropped to 4.5 percent and in 1999 reached a low of 4.2 percent. By April 2000 unemployment had declined to 3.9 percent, the lowest level in three decades.

With a creeping recession, unemployment once again began to rise in early 2001 and rose significantly following the terror attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. In June 2003, 9.4 million people were out of work, and the national unemployment rate reached a peak of 6.4 percent. As of February 2004 the national rate had...