Chapter 9, Problem 25E

Official unemployment rates for the U.S. population are reported on a monthly basis by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For the period October, 2011, through January, 2012, the official unemployment rates were $8.9\%$ (Oct.), $8.7\%$ (Nov.), $8.5\%$ (Dec.), and $8.3\%$ (Jan.). (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov.). If the unemployment rates were to continue to decrease following a linear model,

a. predict the unemployment rate on January, 2013.

b. predict when the United States would reach a zero unemployment rate.