Google has created a very well done time series line chart tool for tracking the unemployment rate in the United State, down to the county level. The data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What I particularly like about the chart is that it’s:

1. Easy to understand
2. Follows best practices for data visualization
3. Comes from a reliable source

Note that you can expand the state-level views and display unemployment rates by county. Very well done.

You can view the site by searching Google for: unemployment rate or by pasting the link below in your browser.

http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=usunemployment&met=unemployment_rate&tdim=true&q=unemployment+rate

The Official Google Blog has instructions and a brief video here:

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/adding-search-power-to-public-data.html