Question

Intermediate Macroeconomics

About unemployment:

a) The US civilian unemployment rate (based on UNRATE) – the one most often quoted is currently at ________%.

b) Suppose that the # of Employed = 160 million, # of Unemployed = 10 million, and the Adult Civilian Population = 240 million. In this case the labor force participation rate equals ______(# in %) and the Employment to Adult Civilian Population ratio equals _______ (# in %).

Answer 1

a) The US civilian unemployment rate (based on UNRATE)- the one most often quoted is currently at 4% in 2019 according to United States Federal Reserve. It reached the highest up to 10% in 1982 and lowest was 2.50% (1953). It reflects the number of employed as percentage of total work force.
b) Employed= 160 million Unemployed= 10 million
Adult Civilian Population= 240 million
hence, Labor force participation rate equals 66.66%

(Formula: )

The Employment to Adult Civilian Population ratio equals 66.66 %. The Employment to Adult population ratio is calculated as the ratio of total labour force employed to total adult civilian population.
Both measures are somewhat similar.