Here's a link: http://www.nber.org/chapters/c2644.pdf

After a bit of reading, though, it seems I'm wrong. If this study is to be believed, employment rates around 1900 were quite chaotic.

Wow, they are going through some serious gyrations to figure out the rates. You're right, that is some serious chaos. If I get their figures right (kinda hard), it seems like the number of jobs available is greater now than in 1900, but that might take a while more to verify.

nice find.