Question

Consider a small economy composed of six people: Manuel, Poornima, Shen, Valerie, Caroline, and Antonio. Each person's employment status is described in the following table.

Based on the criteria used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), identify each person’s status as employed, unemployed, “not in the labor force” (if not in the civilian labor force but still part of the adult population), or “not in the adult population” if not in the civilian adult population.

Person	Status
Manuel is a 75-year-old professor. He teaches only one or two courses a year, but he's still pursuing an active research agenda.
Poornima is a 42-year-old autoworker who was just laid off by her employer. She is trying to find any kind of job to help make ends meet.

Shen is a 35-year-old graphic designer who is taking 2 years off from work to care for his small daughter.
Caroline is a 26-year-old who lost her job as a copy editor for a local newspaper. She has spent the past few weeks out of work and interviewing for other editing jobs. She is thinking about going back to grad school if her job search doesn't succeed after a few more weeks.	Unemployed
Antonio is a 17-year-old who just graduated from high school. He is taking it easy this summer, relaxing by the pool with his friends and family, and volunteering part-time at the local nursing home.
Valerie is a 11-year-old student at East Valley Middle School. She babysits her younger brother and does other chores, so her parents give her an allowance of $25 per week.

Complete the right half of the following equation to reflect the labor force participation rate reported by the BLS.

Labor Force Participation Rate

=

According to this formula, what is the labor force participation rate of this economy of six people?

20%

60%

66.67%

200%

Complete the right half of the following equation to reflect the unemployment rate reported by the BLS.

Unemployment Rate

=

According to this formula, what is the unemployment rate of this economy of six people?

20%

60%

66.67%

200%

Answer 1

Person	Status
Manuel is a 75-year-old professor. He teaches only one or two courses a year, but he's still pursuing an active research agenda.	EMPLOYED
Poornima is a 42-year-old autoworker who was just laid off by her employer. She is trying to find any kind of job to help make ends meet.	UNEMPLOYED
Shen is a 35-year-old graphic designer who is taking 2 years off from work to care for his small daughter.	NOT IN THE LABOR FORCE
Caroline is a 26-year-old who lost her job as a copy editor for a local newspaper. She has spent the past few weeks out of work and interviewing for other editing jobs. She is thinking about going back to grad school if her job search doesn't succeed after a few more weeks.	UNEMPLOYED
Antonio is a 17-year-old who just graduated from high school. He is taking it easy this summer, relaxing by the pool with his friends and family, and volunteering part-time at the local nursing home.	NOT IN THE LABOR FORCE
Valerie is a 11-year-old student at East Valley Middle School. She babysits her younger brother and does other chores, so her parents give her an allowance of $25 per week.	NOT IN THE ADULT POPULATION

Labor Force Participation Rate = No. in Labor Force/Adult Population * 100

Labor Force = Employed + Unemployed

Labor Force = 01+02 = 03

Labor Force Participation Rate = 03/05 * 100 = 60%

According to this formula, what is the labor force participation rate of this economy of six people?

Answer = 60%

Unemployment Rate = No. of Unemployed/Labor Force*100

Unemployment Rate = 02/03*100 = 66.67%

According to this formula, what is the unemployment rate of this economy of six people?

Answer = 66.67%