Julius Shiskin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Julius Shiskin (October 13, 1912 – October 28, 1978) was an American economist.[1] He is known for his contributions to establishing rules in the field of economic statistics. His 1974 unofficial rule-of-thumb definition of a recession continues to be considered by many as the official definition.[2] He authored two books and numerous articles in the field of statistics,[3] and served as the ninth U.S. Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 1973 until his death.[4]
Shiskin was born in New York City on October 13, 1912, and completed his primary education in New Jersey[5] where he graduated from Rutgers University.[5] He was married to Frances Levine and they had two daughters, Laura and Carol.[3][5]
Career
Shiskin taught economics and statistics at the Rutgers university between the years of 1934 and 1938. From 1938 through 1942, he worked as a staff assistant for the National Bureau of Economic Research,[4] and from 1942 to 1945 he was the chief economist for the War Production Board.[6]
In 1945 he joined the Census Bureau, where he held positions of Chief of the Economic Research and Analysis Division and assistant director for Program Planning and Evaluation at the Census Bureau. He played a crucial role in the creation of a computerised technique for seasonally adjusting economic time series and was a significant contributor to the advancement of the business-cycle statistics program. Shiskin joined the Office of Management and Budget in 1969 and assumed the role of Commissioner of Labour Statistics in 1973.[6] While he was in this post, the United States experienced the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression.[3] Shiskin died on October 28, 1978.[7]
