Question

2. Discouraged workers

Which of the following statements correctly describe discouraged workers? (If none of the choices apply, leave all of the checkboxes blank.) Check all that apply.

They are full-time workers who would like to work only part-time.

They have given up on looking for a job.

They are employed workers who want to earn higher wages.

They are counted as part of the labor force by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The following table contains U.S. employment information from February 2011.

Civilian Population	Employed	Unemployed	Discouraged
(Persons 16 years old and over)	(Persons)	(Persons)	(Persons)
238,851,000	139,573,000	13,673,000	1,020,000

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has several measures of joblessness in addition to the official unemployment rate. One alternative is the U-4 measure of labor underutilization, which is calculated as follows:

U-4U-4

=  =

100×Unemployed+DiscouragedLabor Force + Discouraged100×Unemployed+DiscouragedLabor Force + Discouraged

Fill in the following table by calculating the official unemployment rate and the U-4 measure of labor underutilization.

Official Unemployment Rate	U-4 Measure of Labor Underutilization
(Percent)	(Percent)

The official unemployment rate and the U-4 measure of labor underutilization are two different measures of joblessness in the economy.

If the Bureau of Labor Statistics were to include discouraged workers in the official unemployment rate, the reported unemployment rate would   .

Answer 1

the following statements correctly describe discouraged workers-

-They have given up on looking for a job

Official Unemployment Rate	U-4 Measure of Labor Underutilization
(Percent)	(Percent)
13673000/(13673000+139573000)*100 = 8.92	(13673000+1020000)/(13673000+139573000+1020000)*100 = 9.52

If the Bureau of Labor Statistics were to include discouraged workers in the official unemployment rate, the reported unemployment rate would increase.