Exam 15: Unemployment: Part B

Rupert is collecting unemployment insurance benefits.To continue to receive his benefits,he must be looking for work.Because he'd like to continue collecting benefits rather than take a job,he applies at places that are unlikely to hire him.People like Rupert make the reported unemployment rate less than it would otherwise be.

Most spells of unemployment are long,and most unemployment observed at any given time is long-term.

A firm might offer efficiency wages in order to reduce shirking.

When a union raises the wage above the equilibrium level,it reduces the quantity of labor supplied and raises the quantity of labor demanded,resulting in unemployment.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' U-5 measure of joblessness includes marginally attached workers.

The labor-force participation rate equals the percentage of the labor force that is employed.

An economy's natural rate of unemployment refers to the amount of unemployment that the economy normally experiences.

The amount of unemployment varies little over time and across countries.

Critics of government-run employment agencies and public training programs argue that the private market is better at matching workers and jobs than the government is.

Other things the same,countries that offer more generous and longer-lasting unemployment insurance benefits are likely to have higher unemployment rates.

Unemployment insurance is designed to offer workers full protection against job loss.

Even though the difference in labor-force participation rates of U.S.males and females has narrowed,the labor-force participation rate of males remains higher than that of females.

Within the U.S.population,teenagers (ages 16-19)have similar rates of unemployment to adults of prime working age (ages 25-54),regardless of race or gender.

Government-run employment agencies and public training programs both seek to reduce frictional unemployment.

Someone who is without work but is not looking for work is included in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' "unemployed" category.

The labor force equals the sum of the employed and the unemployed.

Advocates of unions contend that unions are a necessary antidote to the market power of the firms that hire workers and that unions are important for helping firms respond efficiently to workers' concerns.

Unemployment insurance increases frictional unemployment.

A firm might offer efficiency wages in order to attract a better pool of applicants.

Unpaid stay-at-home fathers are included in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' "unemployed" category.