Exam 15: Unemployment: Part B

If the number of people unemployed rose but the number of people employed and the adult population stayed the same,then the labor force participation rate would rise.

Some degree of unemployment is inevitable in a complex economy.

Job search is the process of matching workers with appropriate jobs.

Most job search in the U.S.economy takes place without intervention by the government.

Over the past several decades,the difference between the labor-force participation rates of men and women in the U.S.has gradually increased.

Structural unemployment is often thought to explain relatively short spells of unemployment.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics divides the adult population into two categories: those who are employed and those who are unemployed.

Structural unemployment is often thought to explain relatively long spells of unemployment.

The natural rate of unemployment is the desirable rate of unemployment for an economy.

Public policy can reduce the economy's natural rate of unemployment.

The unemployment rate reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics clearly understates the true unemployment rate.

More than one-third of the unemployed are recent entrants into the labor force.

Causes of the decline in the U.S.men's labor-force participation rate over the past several decades include young men now staying in school longer than their fathers and grandfathers did,older men now retiring earlier and living longer,and more fathers now staying at home to raise their children.

Minimum wages are the predominant reason for unemployment in the U.S.economy.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics produces data on unemployment and other aspects of the labor market from a regular survey of about 600 households,called the Current Population Survey.

Minimum-wage laws affect all workers.

Causes of the changing role of women in American society over the past several decades include new technologies that have reduced the amount of time required to complete routine household tasks,improved birth control,and changing political and social attitudes.

U.S.Department of Labor data show that minimum-wage workers tend to be young,less educated,more likely to be working part time,and concentrated in the leisure and hospitality industry.

If all workers and all jobs were the same such that all workers were equally well suited for all jobs,then job search would not be a problem.

In the 1940s and 1950s,about one-third of U.S.workers belonged to unions,but today,only about one-fifth of U.S.workers belong to unions.