1. Explain the concepts a labor force b unemployment rate c labor-force participation rate 2. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that in December 1998, of all adult Americans, 138,547,000 were employed, 6,021,000 were unemployed, and 67,723,000 were not in the labor force. How big was the labor force? What was the labor-force participation rate? What was the unemployment rate? 3. As shown in Figure, the overall labor-force participation rate of men declined between 1970 and 1990. This overall decline reflects different patterns for different age groups, however, as shown in the following table. MEN MEN MEN ALLMEN 16-24 25-54 55 AND OVER 1970 80% 69% 96% 56% 1990 76 72 93 40 Which group experienced the largest decline? Given this information, what factor may have played an important role in the decline in overall male labor- force participation over this period? 4. The labor-force participation rate of women increased sharply between 1970 and 1990, as shown in Figure 26-3. As with men, however, there were different patterns for different age groups, as shown in this table. ALL WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN 25-54 25-34 35-44 45-54 43% 50% 45% 51% 54% 1990 58 74 74 77 71 Why do you think that younger women experienced a bigger increase in labor- force participation than older women? 5. Describe the difference between frictional unemployment and structural unemployment. 6, Are the following workers more likely to experience short-term or long-term unemployment? Explain. a. a construction worker laid off because of bad weather b. a manufacturing worker who loses her job at a plant in an isolated area c. a stagecoach-industry worker laid off because of competition from railroads d. a short-order cook who loses his job when a new restaurant opens across the street e. an expert welder with little formal education who loses her job when the company installs automatic welding machinery