The graph shows unemployment rates in the United States in recent years. Which statement is the most accurate explanation of the information on the graph?

The official definition of the unemployment rate is the number of people that can and want to work but that cannot find a job. It is a good index of the health of the economy of a country, since being close to full employment is positive. Full employment can never be achieved though because of transit unemplyment; a good percentage would be around 1-2%.

We can see from the graph that there was a sudden rise in unemplyment after 2009. Hence, we infer that there were a lot of firing incidents or closings of businesses. Thus, this can be attributed to an economic crisis that hurt the economy. The correct answer is:

The United States suffered an economic downturn starting in 2009