Worksheet – Unit 9

Data Table – Unemp -1
Unemployment Data for Nation of Warobia:

At the end of the year 2004, the imaginary nation of Warobia reported the following data using the customary economic definitions of each category:

Total Civilian Adult Non-Institutionalized Population: 25,470
Labor Force 15,800
Not-In-Labor Force 9,670
Employed 14,850
Unemployed 950
Unemployment Rate

First, calculate the  Unemployment Rate in the table above.

Next, you will be presented with four different scenarios of events that might happen in Warobia.  For each scenario, you will be asked

  • What will happen to the reported unemployment rate – will it go up, down, or stay same?

Scenario 1:  Lay-offs

The Mega Corp. and Acme Inc. have announced they will merge into a newly formed corporation called MegaAcme.  A spokesperson for MegaAcme announces that effectively immediately, MegaCorp. will permanently lay-off 40 workers.  (you may assume that all 40 laid-off workers begin looking for new jobs immediately).

Scenario 2: Long recession – quit looking

The constant stream of bad news in Warobia combined with the fact that very few, if any businesses are hiring, has led many Warobians to despair.  Fifty (50) of the unemployed quit actively contacting potential employers about job openings. They still want jobs, but they see no point in contacting firms until things begin to appear to be picking up.  Some of them are returning to school to improve their skills.  They all still look at newspaper classified ads and check on linkedin.com for job postings, but they don’t see anything worth pursuing or applying for since they don’t believe anyone is hiring right now.

Scenario 3:  Part-time

The ongoing slow recovery from a devastating recession has left employers with plenty of excess capacity.  Several employers do not have enough business or sales to justify their full-time employees.  But they are reluctant to let good people go since these good employees will be hard to replace if business should turn up.  They develop a solution that involves workers working only part-time instead of their previous full-time schedules.  One hundred workers are forced into a part-time status when they would really rather continue to work full-time.  As a result, these 100 now part-time workers begin actively looking for new jobs even while continuing to work at their now part-time jobs.

Scenario 4:  War

War breaks out.  The government of Warobia encourages unemployed males to enlist in the military by promising job training and on-the-job skills.  Sixty (60) previously unemployed males join the military as active-duty soldiers.

Directions:  After calculating initial unemployment rate and reading each scenario, you should go to your school’s learning management system (Moodlerooms at HFCC) to enter your answers.

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