Exercise
Set 8.1
UNEMPLOYMENT
I. Objectives
- To compute the unemployment
rate
- To understand productivity
growth
II. Data
- Input the levels of
employment and unemployment (in millions).
- Click on Gimme Unemployment!
to confirm values for the labor force
and unemployment rate.
III. Questions
- Go to the Bureau of
Labor
Statistics (BLS) at http://www.bls.gov/home.htm.
(Opens in a new window.) Click on the Data Tools
tab.
Click on Top
Picks in the left column.
Select the relevant databases to answer the following questions.
- Obtain the levels of
employment and unemployment for the latest month available: _____________.
- Employment level:
___________ million
- Unemployment level:
___________ million
- Compute the labor force
and
unemployment rate.
- Labor force:
___________
million
- Unemployment rate:
_________ %
- Go to "How the Government
Measures Unemployment" at http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm.
- In its Current
Population
Survey, which is conducted every month, how many households does the
BLS contac?
- People under the age
of
_____ are not included in the labor force.
- Who, according to
the BLS,
is considered to be unemployed?
- Who are discouraged
workers? Are they part of the
labor force? Why?
- Are individuals working
part-time considered to be employed or unemployed?
- Go to http://www.bls.gov/lpc/faqs.htm
for Frequently Asked Questions about Labor Productivity and Costs.
- How does the BLS measure
labor productivity?
- The broadest measure of
productivity published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is that for
the U.S. business sector.
- In 2010, business sector
output covered about
____ % of the value of GDP.
- Which
activities are excluded in the
calculation of business sector productivity?
- Unit labor costs represent the cost of labor needed to produce
a unit of output. The BLS
calculates it by dividing total labor compensation by real
output.
- Show that the BLS formula leads to
the following equation: Unit labor cost = Hourly compensation /
Productivity
- Ceteris paribus,
what is the effect of rising productivity on unit labor cost?
- In the most recent quarter (_____________), productivity grew _____% from the preceding quarter (in annual
rates). You can use the BLS home page for the data.
Video: Solution
to Section III
Questions at
http://www.screencast.com/t/xrqWLQcu3gCh