Term
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Definition
| Adds together the INFLATION RATE and the UNEMPLOYMENT RATE for a rough measure of the state of the economy. |
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Term
| Current Population Survey |
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Definition
Referred to as the Household Survey.
60,000 Households, representing the U.S. population, are interviewed about the employment status of everyone in the household 16 years or older.
People are considered employed if they worked the week before the survey was conducted.
People are considered unemployed if they did not work a week before the survey was conducted. |
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Term
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Definition
| The SUM of the employed and the unemployed. |
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Term
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Definition
The percentage of the labor force that is unemployed. (Number of Unemployed/Labor Force) x 100 |
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Term
| The Working Age Population |
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Definition
Anyone 16 years old or older.
Consists of Labor Force and those not in the Labor Force. |
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Term
| People who do not have a job and are currently not looking for a job are classified by the BLS as |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| The Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics |
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Term
| Those not in the labor force... |
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Definition
Those not available for work: homemakers, retirees, full-time students, people on active in military service, in prison, or in mental hospitals. People available for work but not currently working: i. Discouraged workers: those available for work but have not looked for a job during the previous four weeks because they believe no jobs are available for them. ii. Those not currently looking because of childcare responsibilities or other problems. |
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Term
| Labor Force Participation Rate |
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Definition
The percentage of the working-age population in the labor force. (Labor force/Working-age population) x 100 |
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Term
| Some set backs with measuring unemployment rates... |
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Definition
1. The BLS counts discouraged workers as not in the labor force rather than unemployed. 2. The BLS counts part-time workers as employed. 3. Inaccurate responses from the household survey affects the unemployment rate. |
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Term
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Definition
Also known as the payroll survey, it measures employment. Monthly; uses 300,000 business establishments (factory, store, office) Advantages: Provides information on the total number of persons employed and on a company payroll. Disadvantages: Does not include information on unemployment, self-employed (not on payroll), or those employed in newly opened firms. |
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Term
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Definition
Short-term unemployment that arises from the process of matching workers with jobs. People in between jobs and in the process of searching for new ones. |
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Term
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Definition
Linked to frictional unemployment, it is unemployment due to factors such as weather, variations in tourism, and calender-related events. BLS reports two unemployment rates each month--one that is seasonally adjusted and one that isn't. |
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Term
| How can frictional unemployment be advantageous? |
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Definition
| It increases efficiency: it ensures good matches of worker with job--better productivity. |
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Term
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Definition
More long-term unemployment arising from a persistant mismatch between the skills and characteristics of workers and the requirements of the job. These individuals may lack proper skills for a job and must regain or learn new skills. Some may lack basic skills like literacy or have a drug addiction problem preventing productivity. |
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Term
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Definition
Unemployment caused by a business cycle recession. In a recession, as sales falls, production is cut back, and firms begin laying off workers. |
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Term
| The economy is at full employment when... |
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Definition
Only frictional and structural unemployment remain. (aka when cylical unemployment is zero). |
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Term
| As an economy progresses through an expansion phase, cylical unemployment will... |
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Definition
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Term
| Natural Rate of Unemployment |
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Definition
The normal rate of unemployment. Frictional Unemployment + Structural Unemployment
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