This table shows monthly unemployment rates and S&P 500 index values from January 1980 to July 2002. Unemployment rates ranged from 4.1% to 10.8% while the S&P 500 fluctuated from 102.09 to 1469.25 over the time period shown. In general, unemployment rates decreased and the stock market index increased from the early 1980s through the late 1990s.

1. Unemployment Rate S&P 500
Jan-80 6.3 114.16
Feb-80 6.3 113.66
Mar-80 6.3 102.09
Apr-80 6.9 106.29
May-80 7.5 111.24
Jun-80 7.6 114.24
Jul-80 7.8 121.67
Aug-80 7.7 122.38
Sep-80 7.5 125.46
Oct-80 7.5 127.47
Nov-80 7.5 140.52
Dec-80 7.2 135.76
Jan-81 7.5 129.55
Feb-81 7.4 131.27
Mar-81 7.4 136
Apr-81 7.2 132.81
May-81 7.5 132.59
Jun-81 7.5 131.21
Jul-81 7.2 130.92
Aug-81 7.4 122.79
Sep-81 7.6 116.18
Oct-81 7.9 121.89
Nov-81 8.3 126.35
Dec-81 8.5 122.55
Jan-82 8.6 120.4
Feb-82 8.9 113.11
Mar-82 9 111.96
Apr-82 9.3 116.44
May-82 9.4 111.88
Jun-82 9.6 109.61
Jul-82 9.8 107.09
Aug-82 9.8 119.51
Sep-82 10.1 120.42
Oct-82 10.4 133.72
Nov-82 10.8 138.53
Dec-82 10.8 140.64
Jan-83 10.4 145.3
Feb-83 10.4 148.06
Mar-83 10.3 152.96
Apr-83 10.2 164.43
May-83 10.1 162.39
Jun-83 10.1 167.64
Jul-83 9.4 162.56
Aug-83 9.5 164.4
Sep-83 9.2 166.07
Oct-83 8.8 163.55

2. Nov-83 8.5 166.4
Dec-83 8.3 164.93
Jan-84 8 163.41
Feb-84 7.8 157.06
Mar-84 7.8 159.18
Apr-84 7.7 160.05
May-84 7.4 150.55
Jun-84 7.2 153.18
Jul-84 7.5 150.66
Aug-84 7.5 166.68
Sep-84 7.3 166.1
Oct-84 7.4 166.09
Nov-84 7.2 163.58
Dec-84 7.3 167.24
Jan-85 7.2 179.63
Feb-85 7.2 181.18
Mar-85 7.2 180.66
Apr-85 7.3 179.83
May-85 7.2 189.55
Jun-85 7.4 191.85
Jul-85 7.4 190.92
Aug-85 7.1 188.63
Sep-85 7.1 182.08
Oct-85 7.1 189.82
Nov-85 7 202.17
Dec-85 7 211.28
Jan-86 6.7 211.78
Feb-86 7.2 226.92
Mar-86 7.2 238.9
Apr-86 7.1 235.52
May-86 7.2 247.35
Jun-86 7.2 250.84
Jul-86 7 236.12
Aug-86 6.9 252.93
Sep-86 7 231.32
Oct-86 7 243.98
Nov-86 6.9 249.22
Dec-86 6.6 242.17
Jan-87 6.6 274.08
Feb-87 6.6 284.2
Mar-87 6.6 291.7
Apr-87 6.3 288.36
May-87 6.3 290.1
Jun-87 6.2 304
Jul-87 6.1 318.66
Aug-87 6 329.8
Sep-87 5.9 321.83

3. Oct-87 6 251.79
Nov-87 5.8 230.3
Dec-87 5.7 247.08
Jan-88 5.7 257.07
Feb-88 5.7 267.82
Mar-88 5.7 258.89
Apr-88 5.4 261.33
May-88 5.6 262.16
Jun-88 5.4 273.5
Jul-88 5.4 272.02
Aug-88 5.6 261.52
Sep-88 5.4 271.91
Oct-88 5.4 278.97
Nov-88 5.3 273.7
Dec-88 5.3 277.72
Jan-89 5.4 297.47
Feb-89 5.2 288.86
Mar-89 5 294.87
Apr-89 5.2 309.64
May-89 5.2 320.52
Jun-89 5.3 317.98
Jul-89 5.2 346.08
Aug-89 5.2 351.45
Sep-89 5.3 349.15
Oct-89 5.3 340.36
Nov-89 5.4 345.99
Dec-89 5.4 353.4
Jan-90 5.4 329.08
Feb-90 5.3 331.89
Mar-90 5.2 339.94
Apr-90 5.4 330.8
May-90 5.4 361.23
Jun-90 5.2 358.02
Jul-90 5.5 356.15
Aug-90 5.7 322.56
Sep-90 5.9 306.05
Oct-90 5.9 304
Nov-90 6.2 322.22
Dec-90 6.3 330.22
Jan-91 6.4 343.93
Feb-91 6.6 367.07
Mar-91 6.8 375.22
Apr-91 6.7 375.34
May-91 6.9 389.83
Jun-91 6.9 371.16
Jul-91 6.9 387.81
Aug-91 6.8 395.43

4. Sep-91 6.9 387.86
Oct-91 7 392.45
Nov-91 7 375.22
Dec-91 7.3 417.09
Jan-92 7.3 408.78
Feb-92 7.4 412.7
Mar-92 7.4 403.69
Apr-92 7.4 414.95
May-92 7.6 415.35
Jun-92 7.8 408.14
Jul-92 7.7 424.21
Aug-92 7.7 414.03
Sep-92 7.6 417.8
Oct-92 7.3 418.68
Nov-92 7.3 431.35
Dec-92 7.4 435.71
Jan-93 7.3 438.78
Feb-93 7.1 443.38
Mar-93 7 451.67
Apr-93 7.1 440.19
May-93 7.1 450.19
Jun-93 7 450.53
Jul-93 6.9 448.13
Aug-93 6.8 463.56
Sep-93 6.7 458.93
Oct-93 6.8 467.83
Nov-93 6.6 461.79
Dec-93 6.5 466.45
Jan-94 6.6 481.61
Feb-94 6.6 467.14
Mar-94 6.5 445.77
Apr-94 6.4 450.91
May-94 6.1 456.5
Jun-94 6.1 444.27
Jul-94 6.1 458.26
Aug-94 6 475.49
Sep-94 5.9 462.71
Oct-94 5.8 472.35
Nov-94 5.6 453.69
Dec-94 5.5 459.27
Jan-95 5.6 470.42
Feb-95 5.4 487.39
Mar-95 5.4 500.71
Apr-95 5.8 514.71
May-95 5.6 533.4
Jun-95 5.6 544.75
Jul-95 5.7 562.06

5. Aug-95 5.7 561.88
Sep-95 5.6 584.41
Oct-95 5.5 581.5
Nov-95 5.6 605.37
Dec-95 5.6 615.93
Jan-96 5.6 636.02
Feb-96 5.5 640.43
Mar-96 5.5 645.5
Apr-96 5.6 654.17
May-96 5.6 669.12
Jun-96 5.3 670.63
Jul-96 5.1 639.95
Aug-96 5.1 651.99
Sep-96 5.2 687.33
Oct-96 5.2 705.27
Nov-96 5.4 757.02
Dec-96 5.4 740.74
Jan-97 5.3 786.16
Feb-97 5.2 790.82
Mar-97 5.2 757.12
Apr-97 5.1 801.34
May-97 4.9 848.28
Jun-97 5 885.14
Jul-97 4.9 954.31
Aug-97 4.8 899.47
Sep-97 4.9 947.28
Oct-97 4.7 914.62
Nov-97 4.6 955.4
Dec-97 4.7 970.43
Jan-98 4.6 980.28
Feb-98 4.6 1049.34
Mar-98 4.7 1101.75
Apr-98 4.3 1111.75
May-98 4.4 1090.82
Jun-98 4.5 1133.84
Jul-98 4.5 1120.67
Aug-98 4.5 957.28
Sep-98 4.6 1017.01
Oct-98 4.5 1098.67
Nov-98 4.4 1163.63
Dec-98 4.4 1229.23
Jan-99 4.3 1279.64
Feb-99 4.4 1238.33
Mar-99 4.2 1286.37
Apr-99 4.3 1335.18
May-99 4.2 1301.84
Jun-99 4.3 1372.71

6. Jul-99 4.3 1328.72
Aug-99 4.2 1320.41
Sep-99 4.2 1282.71
Oct-99 4.1 1362.93
Nov-99 4.1 1388.91
Dec-99 4 1469.25
Jan-00 4 1394.46
Feb-00 4.1 1366.42
Mar-00 4 1498.58
Apr-00 3.8 1452.43
May-00 4 1420.6
Jun-00 4 1454.6
Jul-00 4 1430.83
Aug-00 4.1 1517.68
Sep-00 3.9 1436.51
Oct-00 3.9 1429.4
Nov-00 3.9 1314.95
Dec-00 3.9 1320.28
Jan-01 4.2 1366.01
Feb-01 4.2 1239.94
Mar-01 4.3 1160.33
Apr-01 4.4 1249.46
May-01 4.3 1255.82
Jun-01 4.5 1224.38
Jul-01 4.6 1211.23
Aug-01 4.9 1133.58
Sep-01 5 1040.94
Oct-01 5.3 1059.78
Nov-01 5.5 1139.45
Dec-01 5.7 1148.08
Jan-02 5.7 1130.2
Feb-02 5.7 1106.73
Mar-02 5.7 1147.39
Apr-02 5.9 1076.92
May-02 5.8 1067.14
Jun-02 5.8 989.82
Jul-02 5.8 911.62
Aug-02 5.7 916.07
Sep-02 5.7 815.28
Oct-02 5.7 885.76
Nov-02 5.9 936.31
Dec-02 6 879.82
Jan-03 5.8 855.7
Feb-03 5.9 841.15
Mar-03 5.9 848.18
Apr-03 6 916.92
May-03 6.1 963.59

7. Jun-03 6.3 974.5
Jul-03 6.2 990.31
Aug-03 6.1 1008.01
Sep-03 6.1 995.97
Oct-03 6 1050.71
Nov-03 5.8 1058.2
Dec-03 5.7 1111.92
Jan-04 5.7 1131.13
Feb-04 5.6 1144.94
Mar-04 5.8 1126.21
Apr-04 5.6 1107.3
May-04 5.6 1120.68
Jun-04 5.6 1140.84
Jul-04 5.5 1101.72
Aug-04 5.4 1104.24
Sep-04 5.4 1114.58
Oct-04 5.5 1130.2
Nov-04 5.4 1173.82
Dec-04 5.4 1211.92
Jan-05 5.2 1181.27
Feb-05 5.4 1203.6
Mar-05 5.2 1180.59
Apr-05 5.2 1156.85
May-05 5.1 1191.5
Jun-05 5.1 1191.33
Jul-05 5 1234.18
Aug-05 4.9 1220.33
Sep-05 5 1228.81
Oct-05 5 1207.01
Nov-05 5 1249.48
Dec-05 4.8 1248.29
Jan-06 4.7 1280.08
Feb-06 4.8 1280.66
Mar-06 4.7 1294.87
Apr-06 4.7 1310.61
May-06 4.7 1270.09
Jun-06 4.6 1270.2
Jul-06 4.7 1276.66
Aug-06 4.7 1303.82
Sep-06 4.5 1335.85
Oct-06 4.4 1377.94
Nov-06 4.5 1400.63
Dec-06 4.4 1418.3
Jan-07 4.6 1438.24
Feb-07 4.5 1406.82
Mar-07 4.4 1420.86
Apr-07 4.5 1482.37

8. May-07 4.5 1530.62
Jun-07 4.6 1503.35
Jul-07 4.7 1455.27
Aug-07 4.7 1473.99
Sep-07 4.7 1526.75
Oct-07 4.8 1549.38
Nov-07 4.7 1481.14
Dec-07 4.9 1468.36
Jan-08 4.9 1378.55
Feb-08 4.8 1330.63
Mar-08 5.1 1322.7
Apr-08 5 1385.59
May-08 5.5 1400.38
Jun-08 5.6 1280
Jul-08 5.8 1267.38
Aug-08 6.2 1282.83
Sep-08 6.2 1166.36
Oct-08 6.6 968.75
Nov-08 6.8 896.24
Dec-08 7.2 903.25
Jan-09 7.6 825.88
Feb-09 8.1 735.09
Mar-09 8.5 797.87
Apr-09 8.9 872.81
May-09 9.4 919.14
Jun-09 9.5 919.32
Jul-09 9.4 987.48
Aug-09 9.7 1020.62