Unemployment rates refer to the number of people who have been confirmed as unemployed and who have actively attempted to secure employment in the current past without success. This means that these categories of people are willing and able to work but there are no job opportunities. The group of unemployed people does not include people who have no work and have not tried to find a job. Therefore, to be defined as unemployed there must be some demonstration of efforts to obtain employment (Trading Economics). The Bureau of Labor Statistics has collected primary data on unemployment levels to aid the government's plan. The following table and graph represent secondary data on the change in unemployment rates in the United States of America for ten years (2000-2010). Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Percentage change 4.0 4.7 5.8 6.0 5.5 5.1 4 .6 4.6 5.8 9.3 9.6 Inside the graph, on the the years are shown on the abscissa while the unemployment percentages are on the ordinate axis (Bureau of Labor Statistics). The graph indicates that unemployment rates have been steadily increasing over the last ten years except for the short period between 2003 and 2006. This means that the percentage of people who are skilled, able and willing to work has increased steadily over the last decade . The decade ends with a sharp increase in unemployment compared to the first years of the decade. The steady rise in unemployment rates has been attributed to a number of reasons. Some of them include: Economic recession Economic recession is a financial crisis that affects the economic performance of a country (visual economics). According to the graph, unemployment rates in the UN...... middle of paper ....../publications/detail/crisis-economicsMathzone, (2011). Collection of statistical data. Retrieved from: http://www.emathzone.com/tutorials/basic-statistics/collection-of-statistical-data.htmlMoffat Charlce, (2008). Economic recession. Retrieved from: http://www.lilithezine.com/articles/politics/American-Recession.htmlNorthern Arizona University, (2001). Data collection methods. Retrieved from: http://www.prm.nau.edu/prm447/methods_of_data_collection_lesson.htmSengupta Saptakee, (2010). Causes of unemployment. Retrieved from: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/causes-of-unemployment.htmlTrading economics, (2011). US unemployment rates. Retrieved from: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rateVisual economics, (2010). A decade of unemployment. Retrieved from: http://www.visualeconomics.com/a-decade-of-unemployment/