Wisconsin Unemployment Rate Forecast

 

Bruce E. Hansen

T. Haavelmo Professor

Department of Economics

University of Wisconsin

 

29 April 2010

 

This memo reports a 12-month forecast for the seasonally adjusted Wisconsin unemployment rate. In addition to point forecasts (the expected future value of the unemployment rate), the memo also reports 50% and 80% forecast intervals (probable ranges for future values).

The unemployment rate in March 2010 was 8.8%, rising slightly from the 8.7% rate of January and February.

The forecasts fare summarized in Figure 1 and Table 1. The point forecast is for the unemployment rate to remain constant in April, and then decline steadily over the next year, dropping to 7.3% by March of 2011. The 80% forecast intervals show that there is considerable additional uncertainty. The unemployment rate may fall as low as 6.0%, or rise to 9.0% and not fall meaningfully over the next year. The 50% forecast intervals refine this uncertainty, showing that it is unlikely that the unemployment rate will rise above the current 8.8%, and more likely than not fall to at least 8.0% by next February.

A 50% forecast interval is designed to contain the future unemployment rate with 50% probability. It is just as likely for the rate to fall in this interval as out of it. This is the smallest possible interval which has even odds of containing the future rate. We can think of this interval as “likely” to contain the future rate.

An 80% forecast interval is designed to contain the future unemployment rate with 80% probability. We can think of this interval as “highly likely” to contain the future rate. The 80% interval is designed so that there is a 10% chance that the future value will be smaller than the forecast interval, and a 10% chance that the future value will be large than the forecast interval.

 

Figure 1: Wisconsin Unemployment Rate Forecasts


 

 

TABLE 1: Wisconsin Unemployment Rate Forecasts

 

History

Point Forecast

50% Interval Forecast

80% Interval Forecast

2009:11

8.6%

 

 

 

2009:12

8.5%

2010: 1

8.7%

2010: 2

8.7%

2010: 3

8.8%

2010: 4

 

8.8%

(8.7%,  8.8%)

(8.6%,  8.9%)

2010: 5

 

8.7%

(8.5%,  8.8%)

(8.4%,  9.0%)

2010: 6

 

8.6%

(8.1%,  8.8%)

(8.0%,  9.0%)

2010: 7

 

8.4%

(7.8%,  8.7%)

(7.7%,  9.0%)

2010: 8

 

8.2%

(7.6%,  8.7%)

(7.4%,  9.0%)

2010: 9

 

8.1%

(7.3%,  8.6%)

(7.1%,  9.0%)

2010:10

 

8.0%

(7.1%,  8.5%)

(7.0%,  9.0%)

2010:11

 

7.8%

(6.8%,  8.4%)

(6.8%,  9.0%)

2010:12

 

7.7%

(6.6%,  8.4%)

(6.6%,  9.0%)

2011:1

 

7.6%

(6.7%,  8.3%)

(6.4%,  9.0%)

2011:2

 

7.5%

(6.4%,  8.2%)

(6.2%,  9.0%)

2011:3

 

7.3%

(6.2%,  8.0%)

(5.9%,  8.9%)

 

Previous Forecasts

            March 2010

            February 2010

January 2010

                December 2009

                November 2009

 

Forecast Methodology