Question

Suppose there are 123 people that are employed, 7 people are unemployed and 5 people are discouraged workers in January. In February, 5 of the unemployed people found a job and 1 of the unemployed people cannot find a job and stop looking for one since they were very depressed. 19 of the employed people were separated from their job in February. They were all looking for a new job except 3 of them choose to reitre after they were separated from their job. What is the unemployment rate in February? Rounding the number to 1 decimal place.

Answer 1

In January,

Employed = 123 workers

Unemployed = 7 workers

Discouraged = 5 workers

In February,

5 unemployed workers found job.

1 unemployed worker become discouraged

16 become unemployed.

3 got retired

So,

Employed workers in February = Employed workers in January - Seperated from job in February + Got job in February

Employed workers in February = 123 - 19 + 5 = 109

The employed workers in February is 109 workers.

Unemployed workers in February = Unemployed in Janauary - Got job in February + Become unemployed in February

Unemployed workers in February = 7 - 6 + 16 = 17

The unemployed workers in February is 17 workers.

Calculate the labor force -

Laboe force = Employed + Unemployed = 109 + 17 = 126

The labor force is 126 workers

Calculate the unemployment rate -

Unemployment rate = [Unemployed/Labor force] * 100 = [17/126] * 100 = 13.49%

Thus,

The unemployment rate in February is 13.49%