not all shared equally in the economic recovery, and economic inequality and the number of homeless individuals both increased during the 1980s. Fearful of damaging confidence in the economic recovery, Reagan nominated Volcker to a second term in 1983, and Volcker remained in office until 1987. Inflation dropped to approximately 3.5% in 1985, while the unemployment rate fell to about 5% in 1988. In 1987, Reagan appointed conservative economist Alan Greenspan to succeed Volcker, and Greenspan would lead the Federal Reserve until 2006. Greenspan raised interest rates in another attempt to curb inflation, setting off a stock market crash in October 1987 known as "Black Monday," but the markets stabilized and recovered in the following weeks. Labor In August 1981, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), which consisted of federal employees, voted to go on a labor strike in hopes of receiving better pay and benefits. After the vote, Reagan announced that the strikers would be fired if they did not return to work within forty-eight hours. After the deadline passed, Reagan fired over 10,000 air traffic controllers, while approximately 40 percent of the union members returned to work. Reagan's handling of the strike was strongly criticized by union leaders, but it won the approval of his conservative base of voters and others in the public. The breaking of the PATCO strike demoralized organized labor, and the number of strikes fell dramatically in the 1980s. Many of the strikes that did occur, including the Arizona copper mine strike of 1983, the 1983 Greyhound bus driver strike, and the 1985–86 Hormel strike, ended with dismissal of the strikers. With the assent of Reagan's sympathetic National Labor Relations Board appointees, many companies also won wage and benefit cutbacks from unions, especially in the manufacturing sector. During Reagan's time in office, the share of employees who were part of a labor union dropped from approximately one-fourth of the total workforce to approximately one-sixth of the total workforce. Deregulation Reagan sought to loosen federal regulation of economic activities, and he appointed key officials who shared this agenda. According to historian William Leuchtenburg, by 1986, the Reagan administration eliminated almost half of the federal regulations that had existed in 1981. The Federal Communications Commission aggressively deregulated the broadcasting industry, eliminating the Fairness Doctrine and other restrictions. The 1982 Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act deregulated savings and loan associations and allowed banks to provide adjustable-rate