This graph is displaying the civilian unemployment rate from 1950- 2015. The unemployment rate increases during periods of recession. When unemployment rises, consumers tend to save money, tightening the money supply. When the money supply is tightened, the demand for goods and service decrease and consumer spending decreases due to unemployed workers and workers with low wages.

The Y axis on this graph is the civilian unemployment rate and it shows the percentage of people who are in the labor force who do not have jobs. During recessions, the unemployment rate rises because there are less jobs available to people because there are less goods being produced. The unemployment rate decreases during growth period because there are more goods being produced in the economy therefore more labor is needed to produce these goods. The highest unemployment rate was in the 80s because the government made an active attempt to stop stagflation during that period. However, in order to do that, they intentionally slowed the economy and this increased unemployment rates to very high rates. The lowest unemployment rate was around the 40s during the second world war. This was because the government had to employ large quantities of people to work in military industries. This was a very low rate and was achieved because the government had to take control of the economy during the war.