Calculating Unemployment Practice

A nation’s unemployment rate is the ratio of the number of unemployed seeking employment divided by the nation’s

• labor force

• potential gross domestic product

• number of employed

• working-age population

• total population

Why is the unemployment rate an imperfect measure of joblessness?

• It includes workers who are on strike.

• It counts discouraged workers.

• It excludes the frictionally unemployed.

• To count an individual has to be actively looking for work.

• It overestimates the number of individuals who are self-employed.

Which of the following best describes an economy at full employment?

• The rate of unemployment is zero.

• There is only structural and cyclical unemployment.

• There is only cyclical unemployment.

• There is cyclical, but not structural, unemployment.

• There is frictional & structural unemployment, but not cyclical, unemployment.

The table above gives population and labor-market data for an economy. The unemployment rate in this economy is

• 3.3%

• 5%

• 10%

• 33.3%

• 50%

Which of the following will be counted as unemployed by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics?

• Persons who quit their previous jobs to stay at home to care for sick parents

• Persons who were laid off from their previous jobs and have not applied for a job in two years

• Persons who were fired from their previous jobs and are actively applying for work

• Persons who have given up looking for jobs after long searches

• Persons who quit their previous jobs to start their own businesses

Which of the following individuals is classified as unemployed?

• A fifteen-year-old high school student who is looking for a babysitting job

• A laid-off computer programmer who has given up looking for a new job

• A parent who works in an after-school day care center for 15 hours a week

• A recent college graduate who is looking for her first job

• A mayor who lost an election and retired

An increase in the number of which of the following will lead to an increase in the unemployment rate?

• Discouraged workers

• Business start-ups

• Self-employed persons

• Persons working 30 instead of 40 hours per week

• Persons quitting part-time jobs to look for full-time ones

The population of Country X is 250,000, and the labor force is 200,000 persons. If 175,000 people are employed, what is the unemployment rate?

• 10%

• 12.5%

• 20%

• 80%

• 87.5%

Which type of unemployment would increase if workers lost their jobs because of a recession?

• Cyclical

• Frictional

• Seasonal

• Search

• Structural

Which of the following groups is not typically included in the unemployment rate?

• Workers receiving unemployment compensation

• Cyclically unemployed workers

• Discouraged workers

• Recent college graduates looking for work