Chapter Twenty- Three: Employment and Unemployment
Jan 19, 2016
Chapter Twenty-Three:
Employment and Unemployment
Paid Work and Unemployment in the United States
Are you:•Under age 16?•In an institution?•On active duty in the military?
Did you:•Work at all last week for pay or profit?•Work 15 hours or more in a family business?
•Have you been actively searching for work?•Are you available to start a job?
NOT SURVEYED BY THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
70.7 million
EMPLOYED
143.5 million
UNEMPLOYED
12.0 million
NOT IN THE LABOR FORCE89.3 million
“Yes” to any question
“Yes”to either question
“Yes”to both questions
“No” to all questions in Box A
“No” to both questions in Box B
“No” to either question in Box C
LABORFORCE
155.5 million
A
B
C
Figure 22.1: Who is in the Labor Force?
Source: BLS News Release, “The Employment Situation—February 2013,” March 8, 2013; U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Clock.
Table 22.1: Unemployment Rates for Different Groups
Source: BLS News Release, “The Employment Situation—February 2013,” March 8, 2013. a People are allowed to indicate more than one racial group. However, data from people who indicated more than one race are not included in these statistics.
Women
Men
Figure 22.2: Male and Female Labor Force Participation Rates, Aged 24 to 54, 1948-2012
Sources: Mosisa, Abraham, and Steven Hipple, “Trends in Labor Force Participation in the United States,” BLS Monthly Labor Review, p. 35–57, October 2006; BLS 2013 Employment and Earnings Online, Household Survey Data, Table 3; various editions of the Statistical Abstract of the United States
Unemployment
1969-1970
1973-1975
1980 1981-1982
1990-1991
2001 2007-2009
Un
emp
loym
ent
Rat
e
Figure 22.3: The Monthly Unemployment Rate in the United States, 1969-2013
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics online database
Unemployment Rate
Average Duration of Unemployment
Figure 22.4: Average Duration of Unemployment and Unemployment Rate, 1970-2012
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics online database
Theories of Employment, Unemployment, and Wages
Demand
Wage
Quantity of Labor
Supply
WE
LE
Figure 22.5a: The Classical Labor Market Model
Demand
Wage
Quantity of Labor
Supply
LSLD
W*
Labor Surplus (Unemployment)
Figure 22.5b: Unemployment in the Classical Labor Market Model
Real Nonfarm Labor Productivity (1947=1)
Real Nonfarm Hourly Wages (1947=1)
Figure 22.6: Real Nonfarm Median Wages and Labor Productivity, 1947-2012
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Productivity and Costs online database