Chapter 13, Assignment 1
C
All of the following are problems in measuring the unemployment rate except that A) lack of verification of people's responses in the household survey. B) part-time workers are included as employed. C) people on active military service are included as unemployed. D) discouraged workers are not included in the labor force.
C
An article in the Wall Street Journal contained the following observation: "Every month, millions of workers leave the job market because of retirement, to care for children or aging parents, to pursue more education, or out of discouragement. Millions of others jump in after graduating." The millions of workers leaving the job market for the reasons given are A) counted as unemployed in the BLS data because they may return to work. B) not counted as unemployed in the BLS data because they are still of working age. C) not counted as unemployed in the BLS data because they are no longer actively looking for work. D) counted as unemployed in the BLS data because the lags in the data.
C
An article in the Wall Street Journal noted that over a four-month period in late 2014, employment in the state of Georgia "rose 1% even as the state's jobless rate climbed 1.2 percentage points." The state's unemployment rate could have increased at the same time that employment in the state was increasing because A) the state's entire population increased. B) the state's entire population decreased. C) the number of discouraged workers and other people not previously counted as unemployed entered the labor force. D) a large number of discouraged workers left the labor force.
C
As of April 2017, which of the following demographic groups has the highest unemployment rate? A) Whites B) Asians C) African Americans D) Hispanics
A
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 if homemakers were included in these numbers? A) The unemployment rate would decrease and the labor force participation rate would increase. B) The unemployment rate would increase and the labor force participation rate would decrease. C) Both the unemployment rate and the labor force participation rate would increase. D) Both the unemployment rate and the labor force participation rate would decrease.
B
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 A) there was a population growth spurt that depressed the ratio. B) the recovery was sluggish and employment did not expand as rapidly. C) inflation was so low, and social programs so prevalent, that people did not seek work. D) Congress held back on legislation to stimulate the economy.
B
Even if they don't find a job right away, people entering the job market after graduating from high school or college will A) be counted as part of the labor force by the BLS because they are capable of working. B) be counted as part of the labor force by the BLS if they are actively looking for work. C) not be counted as part of the labor force by the BLS because they are not working. D) not be counted as part of the labor force by the BLS because they are not actively looking for work.
C
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? A) The annual unemployment rate would have been close to 50 percent in the last decade. B) The unemployment rate would remain the same because those people are already counted as unemployed. C) The unemployment rate would increase. D) The unemployment rate would decrease.
D
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 A) was not actually a recession at all. B) was just about as severe as economists and policymakers realized at the time. C) was less severe than economists and policymakers realized at the time. D) was more severe than economists and policymakers realized at the time.
B
In discussing the labor market during the recovery from the 2007-2009 recession, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen noted that "the employment-to-population ratio has increased far less over the past several years than the unemployment rate alone would indicate, based on past experience." During an economic expansion, we would normally expect the employment-population ratio to increase as the unemployment rate falls because A) more people are likely to retire. B) more people are likely to be employed. C) fewer people are likely to be born. D) more people are likely to seek second jobs to cope with rising inflation.
C
Relative to the household survey, which of the following is a strength of the establishment survey? A) The establishment survey provides information on unemployment, which the household survey does not provide. B) The establishment survey provides better information on the number of persons self-employed than the household survey. C) The establishment survey is determined by actual payrolls, rather than by the unverified answers of the household survey. D) All of the above.
A
Since 1948, which of the following best describes the trend in the labor force participation rate? A) It is decreasing for men and increasing for women. B) It is increasing for both men and women. C) It is decreasing for both men and women. D) It is increasing for men and decreasing for women.
C
Since the late 1940s, the overall labor force participation rate A) has risen because the decline in the labor force participation rate of adult women has been more than offset by the increase in the labor force participation rate of adult men. B) has fallen because the increase in the labor force participation rate of adult women has been more than offset by the decline in the labor force participation rate of adult men. C) 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. D) has fallen because the increase in the labor force participation rate of adult men has been more than offset by the decline in the labor force participation rate of adult women.
4.0
Suppose an economy is given by the following: Population = 232 million Labor force = 136 million The number of people employed = 130.6 million The number of people unemployed = 5.4 million Given the information above, the unemployment rate is ________%.
A
Suppose that you are available to go to work but have not looked for a job for at least four weeks because you believe that there aren't any jobs available. You would be counted as A) a discouraged worker. B) underemployed. C) part of the labor force. D) unemployed.
D
The employment-population ratio measures the A) portion of the total population that is employed. B) percentage of the working age population that is not employed. C) percentage of the working age population that is in the labor force. D) percentage of the working age population that is employed.
B
The extent of job creation and job destruction is A) an ideal feature of our economy, because very few jobs are ever destroyed yet many new jobs are created. B) what we would expect in a vibrant market system. C) the main reason why the U.S. unemployment rate is persistently high. D) a serious shortcoming of our economic system.
Numerator; increases; increases; increases
The number of people in the labor force - the ____________ of the labor force participation rate - increases as the number of employed workers _____________, but also as the number of people who are counted as unemployed ______________. Employment can remain the same while the labor force participation rate increases if unemployment ________________.
C
The unemployment rate A) is the amount of the labor force that is not working. B) is the amount of people in the population that are not working. C) shows the percentage of the labor force that is considered unemployed. D) shows the percentage of the population that is considered unemployed.
D
The unemployment rate is calculated as follows: A) Unemployment Rate = Number of Unemployed / Number of Employed + Labor Force B) Unemployment Rate = Number of Unemployed / Population • 100 C) Unemployment Rate = Number of Unemployed / Number of Employed • 100 D) Unemployment Rate = Number of Unemployed / Labor Force • 100
A
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. A) rising; falling B) rising; rising C) falling; falling D) falling; rising
C
Unemployment rates are A) lower for college graduates than for people without a high school degree, and vary little among ethnic groups. B) lower for people without a high school degree than for college graduates, and vary little among ethnic groups. C) lower for college graduates than for people without a high school degree, and vary greatly among ethnic groups. D) lower for people without a high school degree than for college graduates, and vary greatly among ethnic groups.
D
When an unemployed person drops out of the labor force, it A) affects the employment-population ratio. B) does not affect the labor force participation rate. C) does not affect the unemployment rate. D) does not affect the employment-population ratio.
C
When an unemployed person drops out of the labor force, the unemployment rate A) overstates the true degree of joblessness in the economy. B) is not affected by the existence of such workers. C) understates the true degree of joblessness in the economy. D) becomes more reliable as all the potential erroneous data are removed.
D
When compared to the Great Depression, the typical length of unemployment in the modern (post-Great Depression-era) U.S. economy is A) significantly longer. B) approximately the same. C) slightly longer. D) relatively brief.
C
When the economy was expanding in early 2007, fewer than ___________ percent of the unemployed had been jobless for more than 6 months. A) 10 B) 5 C) 20 D) 15
Understates
When there are workers that drop out of the labor force, the official BLS measure of the unemployment rate ______________ the true degree of unemployment.
A
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? A) Black teenagers as a group have lower unemployment rates than white teenagers. B) White adults have below-average unemployment rates. C) Black adults have above-average unemployment rates. D) Generally, teenagers as a group have higher unemployment rates than adults.
B
Which of the following demographic groups has a higher rate of unemployment than the unemployment rate for the total population? A) asians B) high school dropouts C) whites D) college graduates
A
Which of the following formulas does the Bureau of Labor Statistics use to calculate the unemployment rate? A) Number of unemployed / Number in labor force • 100 B) Number of unemployed / Number of employed • 100 C) Number in labor force / Number of unemployed • 100 D) Number of unemployed / Working-age population • 100
D
Which of the following is not one of the conditions someone needs to meet to be counted as unemployed? A) Thay had actively looked for work at some time during the previous four weeks. B) They must not have worked in the week previous to the survey week. C) They were available for work in the week previous to the survey week. D) They had worked only one hour per week during the previous four weeks.
B
Which of the following is the correct formula for calculating the unemployment rate? A) Labor force / Working-age population • 100 B) Number of unemployed / Labor force • 100 C) Both of the formulas are used to calculate the unemployment rate. D) Neither formula is used to calculate the unemployment rate.
E
Why is the unemployment rate, as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an imperfect measure of the extent of joblessness in the economy? A) It fails to account for illegal activities. B) It does not account for inaccurate responses to the Current Population Survey. C) Underemployed people are considered employed. D) Discouraged workers are not considered unemployed. E) All of the above.
The labor force participation rate; 70.4
__________________________________ is the percentage of the working-age population in the labor force. Suppose an economy is given by: Population = 220 million Working-age population = 108 million Labor force = 76 million The number of people employed = 70 million The number of people unemployed = 6 million The labor force participation rate for this economy is ____________________%.