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CYCLICAL BEHAVIOR OF UNEMPLOYMENT AND THE HELP WANTED INDEX: A CROSS SPECTRAL ANALYSIS
Author(s) -
Jonish James E.,
Worthley Reginald G.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
decision sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.238
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1540-5915
pISSN - 0011-7315
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-5915.1973.tb00561.x
Subject(s) - unemployment , economics , index (typography) , spectral analysis , unemployment rate , econometrics , economic indicator , business cycle , regression analysis , aggregate (composite) , measure (data warehouse) , economic analysis , macroeconomics , statistics , mathematics , computer science , classical economics , physics , materials science , composite material , quantum mechanics , database , spectroscopy , world wide web
The unemployment rate and the help‐wanted index are two frequently used indicators of the state of the labor market. Traditional regression techniques used in the analysis of the relationship between these two indicators and their cyclical behavior with business fluctuations have yielded varying results. Spectral analysis is used in this article to examine the cyclical behavior of the labor market indicators with respect to each other and with respect to a measure of aggregate economic activity in the United States. Very strong relationships are found, lending support to the rationale of using such indicators as labor market proxies. This application of spectral analysis also provides an illustration of the potential fruitfulness of spectral analysis in examining the cyclical relationships between economic time series.