We examine the natural rate of unemployment estimates of two international organizations (OECD and European Commission) and various release dates. Since estimates differ to a large extent, empirical research results which use natural rate estimates will also vary depending on the data source...

This paper discusses various concepts of unemployment rate benchmarks that are frequently used by policymakers for assessing the current state of the economy as it relates to the pursuit of both price stability and maximum employment. In particular, we propose two broad categories of...