Unit 3 Lesson 2 Unemployment (Waldonomics)

Which demographic experienced the highest peak unemployment rate during the 1980's?

Black men

Since 1972, labor force participation among women has generally ___________ while labor force participation among men has generally ___________.

Increased/Decreased

When actual unemployment is less than its natural rate:

resources are employed at levels that are not sustainable in the long run.

Since 1948, female labor force participation has __________ and male labor force participation has __________.

risen; fallen

A member of the labor force is defined as:

someone already employed or actively seeking work.

To calculate the labor force participation rate, you only need to know:

the number of employed and unemployed and the relevant adult population.

When you include discouraged workers and unemployed workers in calculations of the unemployment rate: (2)

the difference between this alternate measure and the official unemployment rate increases significantly during recessions.

Employment data is released:

the first friday of every month.

One misconception that people often have about unemployment is that:

as a nation, we should aim for zero unemployment.

Which of the following equations represents the unemployment rate?

(number of unemployed / labor force) x 100

When the unemployment rate is equal to its natural rate—that is, no cyclical unemployment exists—the output level produced in the economy is:

at full-employment output.

If the relevant population is 268 million people and the number of people in the labor force is 148 million, the number of people NOT in the labor force is equal to:

120 million.

What year did the labor force participation rate of black women become greater than 60%?

1996

Which of the following recessions saw the highest unemployment rate changes among men?

2007-09

If a jobless person has not sought a job in ____________ weeks, that person is not counted in the unemployment statistics.

4

Refer to the table below. Calculate the labor force participation rate for this economy.

64.17%

Which of the following people would be considered unemployed?

A 17-year-old offers to pet-sit, but no one hires her. A worker is temporarily laid off from his job as a construction worker, but he expects to be recalled soon.

Which of the following situations would be considered frictional unemployment?

A recent college graduate takes a month off to travel while deciding between two job offers. A worker with ten years of experience in finance gets laid off. He has rejected three job offers because they are below his skill level. A software development firm finds the perfect employee, but waits to hire her because government regulations require them to consider other candidates before they make an offer.

Which of the following conditions might cause the unemployment rate to be less than the natural rate of unemployment?

Demand for products is so high that firms keep their factories open for additional hours of production and pay their workers overtime.

Which of the following statements about the composition of the labor force is correct? (2)

c. Since 1948, the percentage of men participating in the labor force has decreased.

Which of the following statements about the composition of the labor force is correct?

Since 1948, the labor force participation gap between males and females has decreased.

Which of the following statements about the composition of the labor force is correct? (3)

Since 1948, the percentage of women participating in the labor force has increased.

Which of the following statements is true about the natural rate of unemployment?

Sometimes the actual unemployment rate is below the natural rate.

In his song "Allentown," Billy Joel sings about the demise of the steel and coal industry in Pennsylvania. In areas like Allentown and much of the Midwest, manufacturing was once the largest employer, but many of those jobs have disappeared as technology has changed. What type of unemployment is the song about?

Structural

Which of the following statements about structural unemployment is true?

Structural unemployment cannot be eliminated.

Which of the following individuals would NOT be considered part of the labor force?

Thomas, who is unemployed but has given up searching for a job because he believes there are no jobs available for him

Which of the following questions does the official unemployment rate answer?

What percentage of the labor force is classified as unemployed?

Asking whether people are unemployed for short spells or whether the duration of joblessness is long term is:

a question that can be answered because the Bureau of Labor Statistics keeps an alternative measure of unemployment that tracks the length of time workers have been unemployed.

If the economy is expanding beyond its long-run capabilities, we know that:

actual unemployment is less than its natural rate.

Holding all else constant, if people who are currently discouraged workers decide to start looking for jobs again, you will see:

an increase the unemployment rate.

Daniel, Steven, and Chris work as engineers in Connecticut. The demand for engineers starts to decline as their company's profits start to decrease during a recession. As a result, Daniel and Steven are laid off from their jobs. Daniel and Steven would be classified as:

cyclically unemployed.

Refer to the table below. If 4 million of those who are currently unemployed become discouraged workers, the unemployment rate will _______________.

decrease to 6.7% (10÷150) x 100 = 6.7%

The root cause of cyclical unemployment is:

downturns in the business cycle.

Brian Murphy is a political consultant for a candidate in Massachusetts. Mr. Murphy's candidate is defeated in the November election, and as a result, Mr. Murphy finds himself unemployed. Mr. Murphy's unemployment is classified as:

frictional unemployment.

Some individuals are unemployed because it takes time for them to find a job that fits their skill set. These individuals would be considered to be:

frictionally unemployed.

Which of the following questions does the official unemployment rate answer?If the real GDP in a country is at a higher output level than full employment output, then which of the following is true? i. The unemployment rate is greater than the natural rate. ii. The unemployment rate is lower than the natural rate. iii. The cyclical unemployment rate is positive. iv. The cyclical unemployment rate is negative.

ii and iv

Discouraged workers are defined as:

individuals who are not working but are willing to work and who have looked for a job in the past 12 months but have not sought employment in the past 4 weeks.

Underemployed workers are:

individuals who are working part-time but would prefer to be working full-time.

Bonnie Austin, age 30, used to work part time in a local restaurant. This year she quit her job to take care of her five-month-old daughter. She is currently not looking for a job. The survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today will count Bonnie as

not in the labor force.

During healthy economic periods:

only frictional and structural unemployment exist.

Data on the natural rate of unemployment and actual employment are provided in the table below. Natural rate of unemployment: 5% Actual unemployment: 8% Based on these numbers, the amount of cyclical unemployment in the economy is

positive

Technological advancements in online banking, have led to its widespread use. As a result, many bank tellers have become unemployed. This is an example of __________ unemployment.

structural

Jamal works in a factory in Lake Zurich, Illinois, assembling toy trains. The factory owner updates the current equipment and installs new robots that can do Jamal's job. As a result, Jamal is laid off and is now unemployed. Jamal would be considered:

structurally unemployed.

Some jobs in the economy are no longer needed after an advancement in technology. A person who loses his job this way would be considered:

structurally unemployed.

Workers who lose their jobs because the skill set they possess is no longer required in the economy are considered to be:

structurally unemployed.

The Great Recession was most similar to which of the following downturns?

the 1982 recession

The size of the labor force is calculated as:

the sum of the number of unemployed and the number of employed.

During periods of recession:

the unemployment rate rises.

The main statistic that is used to monitor unemployment in the economy is:

the unemployment rate.

When you include discouraged workers and unemployed workers in calculations of the unemployment rate:

this alternate measure is much higher than the official unemployment rate.

Joanna was laid off from her job 11 months ago. After searching for a job for months, Joanna finds a job but is only offered part-time work. Joanna would rather be working full-time. Economists would classify Joanna as:

underemployed.

Structural unemployment is:

unemployment caused by changes in the industrial makeup of an economy.

Frictional unemployment is:

unemployment caused by time delays in matching available jobs and workers.

A government program that reduces the hardship of being out of work by guaranteeing that unemployed workers receive a percentage of their former income while they are unemployed is referred to as:

unemployment insurance.