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The unemployment rate dropped from 4.6 percent in the first quarter of 1998 to 4.4 percent in the second quarter. The rate changed very little after that; the fourth quarter unemployment rate was also 4.4 percent. Month-to-month, the jobless rate remained within a narrow range of 4.3 to 4.5 percent from April 1998 onward.
[Chart data—TXT]
Other measures of labor market activity also improved in 1998:
These data are a product of the Current Population Survey. More information can be found in news release USDL 99-06, "The Employment Situation: December 1998." Quarter-to-quarter comparisons are based on seasonally-adjusted data that have been revised to incorporate experience through December 1998. Over-the-year comparisons reflect adjustments for new composite estimation procedures and revised population controls that were introduced in January 1998.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Unemployment rate continued to drop in early 1998, then stayed down at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/1999/jan/wk2/art01.htm (visited October 31, 2024).