Econ 202 Middle Flashcards
what is the unemployment rate? (broad definition)
the number of people who cant find a job, expressed as a percentage of all those who either have a job or are actively looking for one
what is the unemployment rate an indicator of? (in terms of health)
the labor market
what is the labor market?
the aggregate activity of firms searching for workers and workers searching for employment
how does unemployment represent wasted resources? (two ways)
1) loss of production and income, felt mainly by those who are unemployed
2) lost human capital for the people who are unemployed, especially if the unemployment lasts a long time
what survey measures the unemployment rate in the US?
the current population survey (CPS), monthly survey of 60k households
aka the household survey
what is human capital?
the knowledge and skill that people obtain from education, on-the-job training, and work experience
what is the total population of the US?
336 million
how does the CPS first separate the total population? (two groups)
1) those who are unable to work; they are less than 16 yrs old or are institutionalized (in prison, a hospital, etc)
2) the working age population: the total number of people aged 16 years and over who are not institutionalized
how many people are unable to work in the US?
68 mil
how many people are able to work in the US? (the working age population)
268 mil
which 3 ways is the working age population split into?
1) employed
2) unemployed
3) not in the labor force
what does employed mean? how many people in US are employed?
you must have either a full or part-time job
161 mil
which 3 categories does it take to be considered unemployed in relation to the working age population?
1) you have made specific efforts to find a job within the previous four weeks
2) you are waiting to be called back to a hob from which you have been laid off
3) you are waiting to start a new job within 30 days
how many people does the unemployed category represent?
6.4 mil
what does it mean to be not in the labor force? how many people does it represent?
if you are in the working age population but are not employed or unemployed
100 mil
what is an example for someone who is not in the labor force?
a stay at home parent, a student/college student
what is the labor force?
the sum of the number of employed and unemployed persons
what is the formula for the unemployment rate?
(number unemployed/labor force) * 100
what is the current total unemployment rate in the US?
3.8%
what are the 2 categories of people who are often consider misclassified in the official statistic?
1) marginally attached workers (including discouraged workers)
2) economic part-time workers
what is a marginally attached worker?
a person who is currently not working and has not looked for work in the previous four weeks, but has indicated they want and are available for work and have looked for work sometime in the recent past
what is a discouraged worker?
a marginally attached worker who has stopped looking for a job because of repeated failures to find one
how many marginally attached workers in US?
5.4 mil
what are economic part-time workers?
workers who hold part-time jobs but wish to have full-time jobs
when an unemployed person becomes a discouraged worker, what effect does this have on the official unemployment rate?
Unemployment Rate = (Number Unemployed/(Number Unemployed + Number Employed)) * 100
when workers go from being unemployed to a discouraged worker, both the numerator and denominator go down; reducing the unemployment rate
what is the U-6 unemployment rate?
measure of the unemployment rate that counts marginally attached workers as unemployed and economic part-time workers as partially unemployed
what percent rate is the U-6 at as of 2024?
7.3%
what are the two types of unemployment that are always around?
frictional and structural
what is frictional unemployment?
“normal labor market turnover.”
when people enter or re-enter the labor
force, unemployment occurring when someone quits their job to
search for a new one, as well as unemployment occurring because
of the ongoing creation and destruction of jobs
also when their going through life stages
why does frictional unemployment exist?
because it takes time for workers and employers to match up
what are some examples of what could influence the amount of frictional unemployment?
increased unemployment benefits will tend to raise frictional unemployment because they enable workers to spend longer searching for a new job
increase in the rate at which young people enter the labor force will tend to increase frictional unemployment as these workers search for jobs
what is structural unemployment?
exists when changes in the economy change the skills needed to perform jobs
or change the location of jobs
why does structural unemployment tend to last longer?
it takes time and is costly to retrain and/or
relocate. It also often ends with a worker taking a lower-skilled, lower-paying job.
what is cyclical unemployment?
A worker who is laid off because the economy is in a recession and is then
rehired during an expansion experiences cyclical unemployment
dependent/follows the business cycle
what kinds of unemployment can be zero?
only cyclical, frictional and structural will always exist
what does cyclical unemployment do during recessions and expansions?
increases during recessions, decreases during expansions
inverse relationship
what is the natural unemployment rate?
the ur that exists when all unemployment is either frictional or structural
what happens when the unemployment rate equals the natural unemployment rate?
there is no cyclical unemployment
how can the natural unemployment rate change over time?
changes in the amounts of frictional/structural unemployment
what is the current natural unemployment rate?
4.4%
what is full employment?
the aggregate number of hours work done by workers in an economy when the unemployment rate equals the natural unemployment rate
what happens to the aggregate number of hours of work over long periods of time?
itll tend to move towards full employment
what is the real wage rate?
the “price” of an hour of labor
the nominal wage rate adjusted for inflation
what is the aggregate labor market?
a simplified version of the collective markets under one large labor market
what is the demand for labor?
The relationship between the aggregate quantity of labor demanded by firms and the real wage rate.
will firms hire more or less hours of labor if the real wage rate declines?
more
what is the supply of labor?
The relationship between the aggregate quantity of labor supplied by workers and the real wage rate
what will happen to the labor supply if the real wage rate increases?
workers will supply more hours of work
because there are less employees to evenly spread the workload
what is the labor market equilibrium?
labor demanded = labor supplied
what will the real wage rate do in relation to aggregate labor market equilibrium?
adjust towards equilibrium
is there ever no frictionally or structurally unemployed people?
no
would mean there is new jobs, switches between jobs, and no tech advances
what happens in the aggregate labor market equilibrium?
everyone willing to work at the prevailing wage rate is employed, there is no additional unemployment besides frictional and structural
what is potential real GDP?
the quantity of real gdp produced at full employment
basically what could happen in an ideal world, where everyone able to is working and producing at efficient capacity – accounting for inflation
why will the level of real GDP adjust toward potential real GDP over longer periods of time?
the real wage rate adjusts to put the labor market in equilibrium
what happens over shorter periods of time to real gdp and potential rg?
it will deviate away from potential real
GDP due to the business cycle. These are periods of time over which the labor
market is not in equilibrium
what is the output gap? what does it do?
shows the distance between real GDP and potential real GDP
= real gdp - potential real gdp
what determines how big potential real gdp is? (two things)
1) the number of hours of labor worked at full employment
2) labor productivity
what is labor productivity?
The quantity of real GDP produced by an hour of labor
how is labor productivity determined?
1) stock of capital goods
2) human capital
what is stock of capital goods?
How many and what type of capital goods are in the economy