econ 13 unemployment
Which of the following is not a cost or a disadvantage to making the policies to cushion displaced workers more generous?
Displaced workers may reduce their spending.
From December 2007 to December 2010, the BLS initially reported that employment
losses were signifacntly less than they actually were.
Workers who lose their jobs because of a recession are experiencing
cyclical
If the U.S. economy was close to full employment in May 2017, why was the U-6 measure of the unemployment rate still as high as 8.6?
even at full employment, there were many discouraged workers and part-time workers who wanted full-time jobs.
When an unemployed person drops out of the labor force, the unemployment rate
understates the true degree of joblessness in the economy.
Increases in the minimum wage will
Increase unemployment among teenagers.
Relative to the household survey, which of the following is a strength of the establishment survey?
The establishment survey is determined by actual payrolls, rather than by the unverified answers of the household survey.
Giving workers a raise can result in overall lower costs for a firm if
workers are motivated by higher wages to work harder.
What is the U-6 unemployment rate?
A broader measure of the unemployment rate that includes discouraged workers and part-time workers who want full-time jobs.
Government unemployment insurance tends to
increase the unemployment rate by lowering the opportunity cost of job search.
An increase in the number of job quits would suggest that it is becoming
easier to find jobs because employees who leave voluntarily are confident of finding another one.
The short-term unemployment that arises from the process of matching workers with jobs is called
frictional
he short-term unemployment that arises from the process of matching workers with jobs is called
frictional
A person who is in between jobs but actively engaged in a job search is considered to be
frictionally
If government unemployment insurance payments did not rise during a recession,
the economy would suffer as purchasing power of consumers would suffer.
Why do economists and policymakers track changes in the U-6 measure of the unemployment rate?
the official U-3 measure of the unemployment rate may understate the true extent of joblessness in the economy.
Two important trends in the labor force participation rates of adults aged 20 and over in the United States since 1948 are the _________ labor force participation rate of adult women and the __________ labor force participation rate of adult men.
rising; falling
Government unemployment payments can increase the unemployment rate by
allowing the unemployed to be more picky about taking a new job.
When a firm pays a wage that is higher than the market wage in order to increase worker productivity, the wage is called
an efficiency wage.
Which of the following is the correct formula for calculating the unemployment rate?
# of unemployment/ labor force x 100
When an unemployed person drops out of the labor force, it
does not affect the employment-population ratio.
The natural rate of unemployment is
the sum of structural unemployment and frictional unemployment.
Is it likely that the U.S. economy created only 14 million jobs during this time period?
No, the economy could have created more jobs, but some were also lost during that period.
When the economy was expanding in early 2007, fewer than _______ percent of the unemployed had been jobless for more than 6 months.
20
What does it mean when economists say the economy is at full employment?
There is no cyclical unemployment; the only remaining unemployment is structural and frictional.
Unemployment caused by an increase in job quits would be classified as
frictional unemployment
The millions of workers leaving the job market for the reasons given are
not counted as unemployed in the BLS data because they are no longer actively looking for work.
Many economists prefer
the establishment survey because it is determined by actual payroll records rather than unverified answers.
When the economy is at full employment, unemployment is equal to
the natural rate of unemployment.
The state's unemployment rate could have increased at the same time that employment in the state was increasing because
the number of discouraged workers and other people not previously counted as unemploymed entered the labor force.
the "normal" underlying level of unemployment in the economy is
ALL the full-employment rate of unemployment. B. the natural rate of unemployment. C. the sum of structural unemployment and frictional unemployment.
When a company reduces production and employment during economic recessions, those employees who lose their jobs are generally considered to be
cyclically
The unemployment rate is calculated as follows:
rate= ( #of unemployed/ labor force ) x 100
Unemployment arising from a persistent mismatch between the skills and characteristics of workers and the requirements of jobs is called
structural
Even if they don't find a job right away, people entering the job market after graduating from high school or college will
be counted as part of the labor force by the BLS if they are actively looking for work.
Which one of the following accurately describes the relationship between frictional unemployment and job search?
People are said to be frictionally unemployed when they are between jobs and searching for new jobs.
When the economy is at full employment, which types of unemployment remain?
frictional and structural
The type of unemployment most likely to result in hardship for the people who are unemployed is
structural because this type of unemployment requires retraining to acquire new job skills.
Use the graph to the right to help determine which of the following statements regarding the labor force participation rates of adult men and women since 1950 is false.
The labor force participation rates of adult men and adult women were equal in 1990.
How would it affect the unemployment rate if the Bureau of Labor Statistics counted as unemployed both (1) discouraged workers and (2) people who work part-time but would prefer to work full-time?
The unemployment rate would increase.
Which of the following is not one of the conditions someone needs to meet to be counted as unemployed?
They had worked only one hour per week during the previous four weeks.
The unemployment rate in the United States typically has been lower than the unemployment rates in Canada and countries in Western Europe because
the opportunity cost of job search is lower in Canada and countries of Western Europe and unemployed workers in those countries search longer for jobs.
During the recovery from the 2007-2009 recession, the employment-population ratio did not increase as much as it might have been expected to because
the recovery was sluggish and employment did not expand as rapidly.
The reasons behind this decline in employment could be all of the following except
this is the normal underlying level of unemployment in the economy.
The extent of job creation and job destruction is
what we would expect in a vibrant market system.
Which groups tend to have above-average unemployment rates, and which groups tend to have below-average unemployment rates? Consider the following choices. Which one is not accurate?
Black teenagers as a group have lower unemployment rates than white teenagers.
Most economists agree that the above-market wage paid in unionized industries significantly increases the unemployment rate in the United States.
FALSE
Suppose that you are available to go to work but have not looked for a job for at least the last four weeks because you believe that there aren't any jobs available. You would be counted as
a discouraged worker
Employment can remain the same while the labor force participation rate decreases if unemployment ______________
decreases
When there are part minus time workers nbsp, the official BLS measure of the unemployment rate _____________ the true degree of unemployment
understates
In April 2017, the working-age population of the United States was 254.6 million. The working-age population is divided into those in the labor force (160.2 million) and those not in the labor force (94.4 million). The labor force is divided into the employed (153.2 million) and the unemployed (7.1 million). Those not in the labor force are divided into those not available for work (88.7 million) and those available for work (5.7 million). Finally, those available for work but not in the labor force are divided into discouraged workers (0.5 million) and those currently not working for other reasons (5.2 million).
unemployment rate = 7.1/160.2 x 100 = 4.4% labor force participation rate= 106.2/254.6 x100 = 62.9%
In 2017, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) analyzed and revised its employment data for the period December 2007-December 2010. According to that revision, the recession of 2007-2009
was more severe than economists and policymakers realized at the time.
Consider the effect of each of the following on the unemployment rate: a. The minimum wage law
has only a small effect on the unemployment rate since only a small part of the labor force earns the minimum wage.
The employment-population ratio measures the
percentage of the working age population that is employed.
the labor force participation rate is calculated by
the percentage of the working-age population that is in the labor force or (Labor force /Working - age population ) x100
If the length of time workers are eligible to receive unemployment insurance payments doubles, then the unemployment rate will
INCREASE
What does "transitioning people from one job to another" entail? During the transition period, what type(s) of unemployment would describe these people?
In this case, it would involve helping those who are structurally unemployed acquire the skills needed to find new jobs.
Wouldn't raising wages from $10 per hour to $15 per hour reduce Walmart's profits? Why would they have adopted such a policy?
No, the higher wage would not decrease profits if it motivates workers to work harder and be more productive.
The article notes that: "other countries devote more resources than the U.S. to cushioning and retraining displaced workers." What type of policies can governments use to cushion displaced workers?
Offer unemployment insurance payments. Retrain workers with new skills. Offer programs that assist with the job search.
The effect of labor unions on overall unemployment is _________________ since only a _______________ percentage of the labor force outside the government is unionized.
SMALL SMALL
Are these applicants likely to be cyclically, frictionally, or structurally unemployed, and what would be the reason that most of them are unemployed? Briefly explain.
Structurally unemployed, because these applicants lack the skills required for the available jobs.
Which one of the following depicts an accurate description of the household survey and the establishment survey?
The household survey interviews households and collects data that is used to measure the unemployment rate whereas the establishment survey interviews businesses and measures total employment in the economy.
Currently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not include homemakers in its employment and labor force totals. What would happen to the unemployment rate and the labor force participation rate LOADING... if homemakers were included in these numbers?
The unemployment rate would decrease and the labor force participation rate would increase.
Boeing Company employed fewer people in 2017 than it did in 1980. This decline in employment is
a combination of frictional, structural, and cyclical unemployment.
The three types of unemployment are
frictional, structural, and cyclical unemployment.
The unemployment rate declined from 4.5 percent in March 2017 to 4.4 percent in April. The labor force participation rate also declined from March to April, from 63.0 percent to 62.9 percent. Holding constant the number of people employed in April 2017, if the labor force participation rate had increased instead of decreased, the unemployment rate for April 2017 would be
greater than 4.4 percent because adding the same number to both the numerator and the denominator of a fraction that is less than one increases the value of the fraction.
Since the late 1940s, the overall labor force participation rate
has risen because the decline in the labor force participation rate of adult men has been more than offset by the increase in the labor force participation rate of adult women.
In April 2017, which of the following demographic groups had a higher rate of unemployment than the unemployment rate for the total population?
high school dropouts
An efficiency wage
increases the unemployment rate since firms pay a higher-than-market wage that increases the quantity of labor supplied.
The unemployment rate that includes discouraged workers and people working part-time who would prefer full-time jobs
is higher than the official unemployment rate, and the difference between the two grows larger in recessions.
The unemployment rate in the United States is usually ________ than the unemployment rates in most other high-income countries, partly because the United States has _________ requirements for the unemployed to receive government payments.
lower; more stringent
During an economic expansion, we would normally expect the employment-population ratio to increase as the unemployment rate falls because
more people are likely to be employed.
During the last three months of 2016, the employment-population ratio was unchanged, and the labor force participation rate was decreasing The number of people in the labor force the _________________________ of the labor force participation rate decreases as the number of employed workers _________________ , but also as the number of people who are counted as unemployed ____________ .
numerator decreases decreases
All of the following are problems in measuring the unemployment rate except that
people on active military service are included as unemployed.
The payment of government unemployment insurance reduces the severity of recessions by
preventing a huge drop in income and spending for the unemployed.
Experts in hand-drawn animation who remain unemployed due to the film industry's switch to computer-generated animation are considered to be
structurally