I have data on unemployment over the past 15 years for three different groups. I would like to show that there is more volatility in several of the groups than there is in the other. What tests should I run?

Question

I have data on unemployment over the past 15 years for three different groups.  I would like to show that there is more volatility in several of the groups than there is in the other.  What tests should I run?

drwls · Answer

Measure the standard deviation and mean of the data for each group, which I assume is presented an monthly intervals. Compute standard deviation divided by the mean. The group with the highest value has the most volatile unemployment, relative to the mean.