Economic Research Paper
LeeAnna Horton, Adam Warden, Denise Moyer, Nicoleta Fetrow, Talia Legrande
Eco/372
September 24, 2015
Susan Dadres

Economic Research Paper Introduction
With macroeconomics being the focus on the performance of the economy as a whole, there are a few indicators that we can take a look at to understand better the current status of the economy. Examining indicators like unemployment rate, inflation and the gross domestic product can give economist that necessary glimpse, as we will do now.

Unemployment Rate
According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, the "total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 173,000 in August, and the unemployment rate edged down to 5.1 percent." ("Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary," n.d.) As indicated by the household study information in August, "the unemployment rate edged down to 5.1 percent, and the quantity of unemployed persons edged down to 8.0 million. Throughout the year, the unemployment rate and the quantity of unemployed persons were around 1.0 rate point and 1.5 million, separately. The quantity of persons unemployed for fewer than five weeks diminished by 393,000 to 2.1 million in August. The quantity of long haul unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) held at 2.2 million in August and represented 27.7 percent of the unemployed. In the course of recent months, the quantity of long haul unemployed is around 779,000." ("Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary," n.d.) The BLS uses data collected from household surveys and establishment surveys to analyze employment and unemployment rates.

Consumer Price Index and Inflation “The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services. The CPI is the most widely used measure of inflation and is