This week we will be trying to understand the nation's unemployment rate. How is it calculated? How can a falling unemployment rate actually signal bad news for the economy? Watch the Khan Academy video and read the discussion below the video on the Khan Academy website to discover some really interesting information about the unemployment rate!Unemployment Rate Primer
Record your new insights below for the all important Extra Credit . . .
This econ video discusses unemployment, how the Bureau of Labor Statistics determines the unemployment rate and who is considered "unemployed."
ReplyDeleteThe unemployment rate is determined by taking the total unemployed and dividing that number by the total labor force, thus yielding the unempl. rate. (The labor force includes the employed and unemployed.) You are considered unemployed if you have searched for a job in the past 4 weeks. You become a marginally attached worker and are not included in the labor force if you do not actively look for work and/or become discouraged. Thus, the unemployment rate may prove deceiving in that not all unemployed individuals are included in this rate.
Good work, Hannah! You earned your 5 extra credit points and an A for the 4th quarter. Enjoy your summer!
DeleteThis Economics video is about Unemployment:
ReplyDeleteYou can find the UNEMPLOYMENT RATE by dividing the unemployed by the labor force. The LABOR FORCE is found by adding the unemployed plus the employed. When someone is UNEMPLOYED it means that they don’t have a job but they want one, they have been looking for a job in the past 4 weeks. But when they give up searching for a job and more than 4 weeks time passes they become MARGINALLY ATTACHED WORKERS and are no longer included in the labor force. Because of this if, the economy is in bad enough that several of the unemployed workers give up and become marginally attached workers, the unemployment rate will drop giving the false appearance of an improving economy.
Sabrina A Seq:B
Sabrina, you are right. A dropping unemployment rate can be deceiving. You have earned your 5 points. Enjoy your summer!
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ReplyDeleteThe topic of this lesson was the Unemployment Rate Primer and Kahn started the video off by saying how it was a very important economic indicator. Now the Bureau of Labor Statistics considers a certain group of people “old enough to care about”. They are anyone 16 years and older, but of course, not everyone 16 years and older can be deemed employable, for they might still be in school or already retired. So, the Bureau looks for a certain subset of people who are old enough and willing to work, this subset is called The Labor Force. Now inside that labor force there is another subset of people that the Bureau of Labor Statistics considers unemployed. To find the unemployment rate, the Bureau follows a specific formula starting with the unemployment rate equaling the number of unemployed people being divided by the Labor Force. It is very important to remember that the Labor Force is made up of the unemployed plus the gainfully employed. In the video, Kahn really wants us to understand the definition of the people who are unemployed. So according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an unemployed person is someone who essentially does not have a job but does want to obtain one. The way the Bureau tries to ‘accurately’ decide if a person is unemployed is if the said person has been searching for a job within the past four weeks. If the person has not looked for a job by week four, then the Bureau will no longer consider that person unemployed. Therefore the unemployment rate is now lowered, but in actuality, that same person is still without a job. This person is now entirely out of the labor force and part of a small subset called Marginally Attached Workers. With this person being taken out of both the numerator and denominator of the unemployment rate formula, the unemployment rate –in theory- is being improved.
ReplyDeleteGood work, Veronica! 5 exta credit points are coming your way. Enjoy your summer!
DeleteThis econ video talks about unemployment,how to calculate it, and who is considered unemployed. The Bureau of Labor Statistics determines the unemployment rate and who is considered "unemployed". The Unemployment rate is calculated by dividing the unemployed by the labor force. ( The labor force is found by adding the unemployed and the employed). This video also talks about that someone is considered "unemployed" when they don't have a job but they want one.(They have been looking for a job in the past four weeks). If after four weeks they give up looking for a job they are considered marginally attacked workers and are no longer included in the labor force. If this occurs the lower unemployment rate falsifies the apperance of an improving economy in that if a worker gives up and becomes a marginally attached worker, the unemployment rate will drop giving the deceiving appearance of an improving economy, even though the same amount of people are still out of work.
ReplyDeleteJillian Seach
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Jillian, you understood the main points of the video well and have earned your 5 extra credit points. Enjoy your summer!
DeleteIn this Khan video, the main topic was about unemployment. He created a visual way of looking at who is in the labor force, or who is considered unemployed by using the U.S. population, the residents of the U.S. that are 16 years or older (but are not necessarily looking for a job), the labor force, and the unemployed. To find the unemployment rate, you need to find the number of people unemployed and divide that number by the entire labor force. The labor force is the number of unemployed people added to the number of employed. In order to determine who gets counted into the unemployed, the BLS identifes the person by finding if that person has no job, but wants one. They also measure it if that person has been looking for a job over the past four weeks. If you go over four weeks, that person is determined as being a marginally attached worker. This category is outside of the labor force. This person is currently not looking for a job since they may be discouraged according to the economy or they have just been turned down many times. Having the discouraged worker leave the labor force, could mean that the unemployment rate has decreased. But that person is still out of a job, so it shows no real "improvement" in the economy.
ReplyDeleteMarissa Ozog
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Good work, Marissa! You are right that a dropping unemployment rate doesn't necessarily signal an improving economy. You have earned your 5 extra credit points. Enjoy your summer break!
DeleteThe unemployment rate is calculated by dividing the unemployed by the labor force.The labor force is determined by adding the employed and the unemployed together. The unemployed are the people who do not have a job but want one and have been looking for the last 4 weeks. The unemployment rate can be found by dividing the unemployed by the labor force. A marginally attached worker is someone who gives up searching for a job after 4 weeks of looking, and they are no longer included in the labor force. If this occurs the lower unemployment rate makes it seem like the economy is improving/ This is because when a worker is taken out of the labor force, the unemployed to labor force ratio is smaller, but the same amount of people are out of work.
ReplyDeleteAlly,good work! 5 extra credit points are being added to your grade. Enjoy your time off!
DeleteThe unemployment formula rate becomes more clear when he gives a visual aid which helped me to understand this better. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is the group which determines the unemployed and who is qualified as employed and unemployed. After being rejected so many times, people get discouraged and stop searching for a job. This takes them out of the labor force because they are not actively searching. This happens after 4 and a half weeks. It is possible for the unemployment rate to decrease in a bad time of the economy because people are being so discouraged and leaving the work force. This is terrible and does not show a true number due to the inactive people.
ReplyDeleteGrace G seq. B
Hey Grace, nice work! You have picked up on the problem of discouraged workers understating the unemployment rate. You have earned your 5 extra credit points. Enjoy your summer vacation!
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