The percentage share of those who are unemployed and find a job by the next quarter has been trending down for about four decades. Interestingly, the percentage share of those who have a job and are separated from it has also been trending down for about three decades. Here's a figure from Pedro Amaral of the Cleveland Fed:
The U.S. employment-to-population ratio for some decades substantially exceeded that of the nations of western Europe. But in the last couple of decades, the rates have converged. Here's a figure from Christian Grisse, Thomas Klitgaard, and Aysegul Sahin of the New York Fed:
In the recent recession, many other economies responded by reducing hours-per-worker, and thus keeping employment rates relatively high. The U.S. economy kept hour-per-worker high, but saw a sharp drop in employment. Here's a figure from the annual IMF report on the U.S. economy:
