Question

How might the inability to get out affect the finding rate due to shelter in place. What will this do to the unemployment rate?

Answer 1

• The unemployment rate is the proportion of unemployed persons in the labor force.
• Unemployment adversely affects the disposable income of families, erodes purchasing power, diminishes employee morale, and reduces an economies output.
• The Current Population Survey (CPS) evaluates the extent of unemployment in the US, with measures ranging from U-1, the most strict, to U-6, the most inclusive.
• The official measure of unemployment in the US is U-3, which qualified the unemployed as those who do not have a job, those who have actively searched for work in the prior four weeks, and those who are available for work.

Importantly, unemployment even affects those who are still employed. When workers are let go, it increases the amount of work those who are still employed have to cover. And because unemployment usually increases when companies are trying to cut costs, those expected to pick up the slack are not receiving any additional compensation for extra hours worked. Unemployment can also have a negative mental effect on those who are still working. They may become more concerned about losing their jobs or be hesitant to look for something better because they "are lucky" to be employed at all. They may even feel guilty about having a job when their co-workers are out of work. High unemployment is also a problematic state for the U.S. economy. Over 70% of what the U.S. economy produces goes to personal consumption and unemployed workers consume far less than those with steady income.

To better understand the nature of unemployment, policymakers need information on many aspects of it, including the number of unemployed people, the period for which they have been unemployed, their skill levels, the trend in unemployment, regional disparities in unemployment, and so on. Once these statistics have been obtained and interpreted, policymakers can use them to make better-informed decisions about steering the economy and countering unemployment.