Economics Today (19th Edition)
Economics Today (19th Edition)
19th Edition
ISBN: 9780134478777
Author: Roger LeRoy Miller
Publisher: PEARSON
Question
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Chapter 7, Problem 7.1LO
To determine

How the U.S government calculates the official unemployment rate.

Expert Solution & Answer
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Explanation of Solution

The U.S government under the division Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) conducts a survey every month called the Current Population Survey (CPS) in order to measure the extent of unemployment in the country. This survey covers about 60,000 households. The residents of these households are asked questions about their status of employment. Based on the responses to these questions the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the total labor force which gets divided into sections of employed and unemployed. Once, the labor force is divided into employed and unemployed, the Bureau estimates the current unemployment rate- percentage of labor force that is unemployed.

Economics Concept Introduction

Introduction:

Unemployment rate:

It is defined as the fraction of the labor force that is jobless at a given time period. Unemployment rate is calculated by dividing total number of unemployed or jobless people by the total number of people in the labor force.

Unemployment Rate = Total Unemployed / Total in the labor force

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