Journal Article
Job matching: evidence from the Beveridge curve
Hodges, Jaclyn; Valletta, Robert G. (2006)
This Economic Letter examines the evidence on long-term shifts in the speed and efficiency of job matching in U.S. labor markets by using the so-called Beveridge curve. The Beveridge curve is an empirical measure of the relationship between the job vacancy rate and the unemployment rate. Changes in the job-matching process suggested by movements in the Beveridge curve, and their implications for U.S. labor market performance, have not been extensively analyzed, due in part to the absence of consistent data on job vacancies over a long time period. In this Economic Letter, we utilize new data ...
FRBSF Economic Letter

Journal Article
Age and education effects on the unemployment rate
Hodges, Jaclyn; Valletta, Robert G. (2005)
The national unemployment rate fell slowly during the first half of 2005, reaching 5.0% in June. While this is above the lows reached in 1999-2000, it is noticeably below the rates that largely prevailed during the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s. This Economic Letter focuses on two demographic factors that help explain the reduction in the unemployment rate over the past few decades. The first is the composition of the population by age group, and, in particular, the contribution of the aging of the "baby boom" generation to the long-term decline in the unemployment rate. The second is ...
FRBSF Economic Letter