Spatial differentiation of seasonal unemployment in the USA

Abstract

The paper presents an analysis of spatial differentiation of seasonal unemployment in the USA.  Harmonic analysis was used in the research. An attempt was made to present regional differences in the seasonality of unemployment as an effect of different amplitude and frequency. In this study, seasonality analysis was carried out on the example of the United States, one country, but with a varied climate structure. Limiting research to one economy allows a better understanding of the importance of non-economic factors. And as it turns out, these are crucial in the scale and distribution of seasonal fluctuations. Differences among states arise from a different share of waves of an annual and semiannual frequency, and from a date of maximal unemployment in a wave of an annual frequency. Northern states are characterised by the prevalence of a wave, of annual frequency, with its maximum in the winter period. In the southern states, the unemployment maximum is a wave of annual frequency occurring in the summer period, in which the further south, the bigger the share of this wave in total seasonal variability. In the majority of states between the northern and southern ones, seasonality of unemployment has the character of a cycle of semiannual frequency with seasonal maximum in both winter and summer periods. The value of seasonal fluctuations is clearly related to the distribution of seasonal fluctuations. Smaller seasonal fluctuations characterise those states where the maximum for the annual harmonic occurs in the summer period. The superposition of waves of different frequency results in specific seasonal fluctuations in unemployment in particular states.