Two recent student projects on unemployment rates. Note the following:

Neither project was difficult. The students used the material from the time series course to analyze a macroeconomic index. The results were expected: an AR(1) process in one project and no relation to inflation in the other project. You do not need innovative research to get VEE credit; you need to show that you understand time series analysis.

You can design innovative projects with little work. You can relate unemployment to real GDP, stock prices, immigration, and other items. Most candidates are intrigued by social or political issues, such as "Does illegal immigration raise domestic unemployment?" "Are stock prices a leading indicator of unemployment?" "Is unemployment for men vs women or blue collar vs white collar better correlated with real GDP?" Economists do not agree on these items, and you can design projects to examine them.