Let's examine labor force participation in October 2019, July 2020, and October 2020

Household Employment Data

(Numbers in billions)

	Working age Population	Labor Force	Employed	Unemployed
October 2019	259.8	164.4	158.5	5.8
July 2020	260.4	159.9	143.5	17.8
October 2020	260.9	160.9	149.8	11.1

Source: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t01.htm

Let's calculate labor force participation and the unemployment rate for October 2019.

Labor Force Participation Rate = People in the Labor Force

Total Working Age Population

= 164.4

259.8

= 0.6327 X 100

= 63.3%

Unemployment Rate = Unemployed People

Total Labor Force

= 5.8

164.4

= 0.0353 X 100

= 3.5%

Now, calculate the labor force participation rate and the unemployment rate for July 2020 and October 2020. Show your work and then enter all the data into the table below.

1. July 2020

2. October 2020

	Labor Force Participation Rate	Unemployment Rate
October 2019
July 2020
October 2020

Use your own personal knowledge and any additional outside resources to answer these questions.

3. What changes occurred in both the labor force participation rate and unemployment rate over this time period?

4. Explain the historical factors that caused the changes in labor force participation and the unemployment rate.

5. What do these changes tell us about the health of the economy?

For the following scenarios, choose from the following types of unemployment: frictional, cyclical, or structural.

6. Joe is looking for work as a machinist after his and most other machinist jobs were eliminated and replaced by computer-operated machines.What type if unemployment is Joe experiencing?

7. Tired of the same job, day-in and day-out, Delores quit her job and is looking for more challenging work.

8. George was laid off by his trucking firm because of a recession.