Use the following table to answer question. Numbers are in millions.

Question

Total population 195.4
Adult population 139.7
Number of unemployed 5.7
Number of employed 92.3

The unemployment rate is
a. 5.7 percent.
b. Not enough information is available to answer this question.
c. 6.2 percent.
d. 3.2 percent.
e. 5.8 percent.

Answer 1

To calculate the unemployment rate, we use the formula:

\[ \text{Unemployment Rate} = \left( \frac{\text{Number of Unemployed}}{\text{Labor Force}} \right) \times 100 \]

Where the Labor Force is the sum of the number of employed and unemployed individuals.

From the table:

• Number of unemployed = 5.7 million
• Number of employed = 92.3 million

Now, we can calculate the Labor Force:

\[ \text{Labor Force} = \text{Number of Employed} + \text{Number of Unemployed} \] \[ \text{Labor Force} = 92.3 + 5.7 = 98.0 \text{ million} \]

Now, we can plug the values into the unemployment rate formula:

\[ \text{Unemployment Rate} = \left( \frac{5.7}{98.0} \right) \times 100 \] \[ \text{Unemployment Rate} = 0.058163 \times 100 \approx 5.82 % \]

So the unemployment rate is approximately 5.8 percent.

The correct answer is: e. 5.8 percent.