. How do economists in the United States determine when a recession begins and when it ends? How do other countries determine whether or not a recession is occurring? 5. The U.S. Department of Labor reports statistics on employment and earnings that are used as key indicators by many economists to gauge the health of the economy. During a recession, the weekly claims for unemployment insurance tend to spike. Figure 10-3 in the text plots historical data on the unemployment rate each month. Noticeably, the numbers were high during the recessions in the early 1990s and in 2001. a. Locate the latest data on the national unemployment rate. (Hint: Go to the website of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, and locate the latest release of the Employment Situation.) b. Compare the current numbers with the recessions in the early 1990s and 2001 as well as with the periods of relatively high economic growth just before the recessions. Are the current numbers indicative of a recessionary trend?