The employment status (employed or unemployed) of each individual in the US. workforce is a set of data that is of interest to economists, businesspeople, and sociologists. These data provide information on the social and economic health of our society. To obtain information about the employment status of the workforce, the U.S. Bureau of the Census conducts what is known as the Current Population Survey. Each month approximately 1,500 interviewers visit about 59,000 of the 92 million households in the United States and question the occupants over 14 years of age about their

~mployment status. Their responses enable the Bureau of the Census to estimate thc percentage of people in the labor force who are unemployed (the unernployrnerzt rate).

a. Define the population of interest to the Census Bureau.

b. What variable is being measured? Is it quantitative or qualitative?

c. Is the problem of interest to the Census Bureau descriptive or inferential?

d. In order to monitor the rate of unemployment, it is essential to have a definition of "uneiployed." Different economists and even different countries define it in various ways. Develop your own definition of an "unemployed person." Your definition should answer such questions as: Arc students on summer vacation unemployed? Are college professors who do not teach summer school unemployed? At what age are people considered to be eligible for the workforce? Are people who are out of work but not actively seeking a job unemployed?