Unemployment Rate in 2001

The Misery Index in 2001

The Misery Index — a simple gauge coined by economist Arthur Okun — adds the unemployment rate to the inflation rate, on the idea that both eat into household wellbeing at the same time. The higher the sum, the more economic pain a typical household feels. Here's how 2001 stacks up:

So in 2001, a 4.73% jobless rate sat alongside 2.83% inflation, for a combined Misery Index of about 7.6. For the other half of that figure — what consumer prices did and what 2001's money is worth today — see historical inflation rates.

What happened to jobs in 2001

The bursting of the dot-com bubble and the shock of the September 11 attacks pushed unemployment up from its late-1990s lows.

In 2001, the unemployment rate ran at 4.73%, up from 3.99% in 2000. That made it the 23rd-highest of the 35 years on record, and below the long-run average of 5.68%. For comparison, unemployment sits at about 4.2% today — a gap of 0.53 points.

How 2001 compared

Across the full 1991–2025 record, unemployment has averaged about 5.68%, so 2001 ran below that long-run norm. Within the 2000s, the jobless rate averaged roughly 5.54%, and 2001 sat below its own decade. Five years earlier, in 1996, the rate was 5.45%. The following year, 2002, unemployment rose to 5.78%.

This is one year out of the whole story. For the complete history — every year since 1991, the all-time high and the record low, the decade-by-decade view, and what drives unemployment over time — see historical unemployment rates, 1991–today.