) By definition, the labor force participation rate is

A) the percentage of institutionalized working-age individuals who are employed or seeking employment.
B) the percentage of noninstitutionalized working-age individuals who are employed or seeking employment.
C) the annual rate of growth in the number of people who are either employed or searching for available jobs.
D) the annual rate of growth in the number of people who are unemployed and searching for available government-provided unemployment benefits.

5 answers

B) the percentage of noninstitutionalized working-age individuals who are employed or seeking employment.
Suppose the population of El Campo is 120,000. Of the population 16 years and older, 50,000 are employed, 10,000 have never worked and are not looking for work, 5,000 are not working and are looking for work, and 15,000 are retired and not looking for work. The labor force equals
A) 50,000.
B) 55,000.
C) 65,000.
D) 80,000.
C) 65,000.

The labor force includes those who are employed or actively seeking employment. In this case, that would be the 50,000 employed individuals and the 5,000 who are not working but are actively looking for work. Therefore, the labor force is 50,000+5,000=55,000.
The population is 1,000 million, the labor force is 700 million, and the number of unemployed is 35 million. What is the unemployment rate?
A) 7 percent
B) 5 percent
C) 10 percent
D) 3.5 percent
D) 3.5 percent

The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed individuals divided by the total labor force, expressed as a percentage.

So, unemployment rate = (number of unemployed / labor force) x 100

Plugging in the numbers:

unemployment rate = (35 million / 700 million) x 100

unemployment rate = 0.05 x 100

unemployment rate = 5%

Therefore, the correct answer is option B) 5 percent.

(Note: The question has a typo stating the population to be "1,000 million" instead of "1 billion".)