REAL-WORLD APPLICATION) Go to the latest Labour Force Survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the picture below, a..s@.nsf/mf/6202.0 (it will be data for March 2021).

a. What is the labour force participation rate? Briefly checking some online sources is it lower or higher than in other countries? Try to provide some explanation for the difference.

b. Assume that the participation rate in Australia changes to 64%. Also assume that the adult population and the number of employed remain unchanged (hint: if the adult population is not reported, you can calculate it easily using the labour force and participation rate).

What would be the new labour force, the number of unemployed, and the unemployment rate? Round your numbers to whole people (i.e. all will have decimal places, except the unemployment rate, for which report 2 decimal places).

c. Spend about 10 minutes going through the website and report at least one observation you find interesting or surprising, and a possible explanation for it.

d. Based on all the above material, if you were the Prime Minister what would you do to try to reduce the rate of unemployment (both short-term and long-term)?

75 70 65 Participation rate, Seasonally adjusted 60 55 Mar-11 ep-11 Mar-12 Sep- 12 Mar 13 Se 13 Ma ar-14 Se -14 - People Mar- 15 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force, Australia March 2021 Sep Ma 16 - Males Sep- 1 16 Mar-17 Se p-17 Ma -18 - Females Se 18 Mar-19 Se -19 Mar- Se 20 Mar-21