The labor force in America is a highly productive resource that plays a critical role in the economy. As a factor of production it provides the human capital necessary for business to produce goods and services. In turn, by receiving payment for its work, the labor force comprises the bulk of the household market that consumes the goods and services produced.
Understanding how employment impacts the economy is basic to understanding the operation of the economy as a whole.
Basic Definitions
A good place to start is to understand the basic concepts of employment and unemployment, who is counted as employed and who is counted as unemployed.
- What are the basic concepts involved in identifying the employed and unemployed?
- Who is counted as employed?
- Who is counted as unemployed?
- What are the types of unemployment?
- ________________________
- ________________________
- ________________________
- ________________________
- Goto the CPS Databases (select from Databases-Labor Force Statistics including the National Unemployment Rate
(Current Population Survey - CPS) and using the search and graphing capabilities of the BLS web site, describe what has been happening to the unemployment rate since 2000.
- What is the unemployment rate for your age group? Describe how you found this information.
- What is the near term outlook for employment in the U.S.? Describe where you found this information.