1. Module 12 Mar 2015

2.  Defining and Measuring Unemployment ◦ Employed – you have a job ◦ People not considered – retired, disabled, institutionalized, etc. ◦ Unemployed – people who are actively looking for work but are not employed ◦ Labor Force – the sum of the employed and the unemployed ◦ Labor Force Participation Rate – the share of working age population that is in the labor force ◦ Unemployment Rate – the % of the total number of people in the labor force who are unemployed

3.  Labor Force Participation Rate Labor Forcex 100 Population age 16 and older

4.  Unemployment Rate Number of Unemployed Workers x 100 Labor force

5.  In general, the unemployment rate is a good indicator of the economy  In general….  Discouraged workers – people who have given up looking for a job are NOT counted as unemployed – because they are not seeking employment  Marginally attached workers – people who say they want a job and have looked in the past but are not currently looking.

6.  Underemployed – workers who would like to find full-time work, but are currently working part time because they can’t find a full-time job. These people are not counted in the unemployment rate.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics keeps track of this information.