Exam 9: Unemployment and Its Natural Rate

Which of the following constitutes the labour force?

Frictional unemployment is different from unemployment arising from minimum-wage laws, unions, and efficiency wages because in the former, workers are searching for the jobs that best suit them, while in the latter, workers are waiting for jobs to open up.

How are discouraged workers counted in unemployment statistics?

What is most likely to reduce the natural rate of unemployment?

According to efficiency wage theory, what is a way to increase employees' work effort?

How does the labour-force participation rate of women just after World War II compare to the same statistic today?

How often is data on unemployment reported?

Suppose the summer labour market for construction workers in the city of Red Deer is described by the equations LD = 500 - 10w and LS = -100 + 10w, where L is the number of workers and w is hourly wage. a) Draw the labour supply and demand curves. b) Find the equilibrium wage and employment. c) How much is the unemployment rate in equilibrium? d) Suppose that 50 less workers are needed in winter in equilibrium compared to the summer equilibrium employment. Calculate the winter equilibrium wage, and show in a graph the winter labour market model compared to the summer one.

What is the effect of anything that makes the efficiency wage rise relative to the market-clearing wage?

What industry in the Canadian economy has the highest percentage of unionized workers?

Figure 9-1 This figure shows the effect of a minimum-wage law. -Refer to the Figure 9-1. If there was a minimum wage of $4 and then the government instituted a minimum wage of $5, what would happen to employment in this market?

Someone who is without work but is not looking for work would be counted as unemployed.

In Canada, what fraction of the unemployed are recent entrants into the labour force?

Sally is on a temporary summer layoff from the public school where she works as an administrator. If Sally participates in the Statistics Canada survey, how will she be classified?

If an unemployed person quits looking for work, other things equal, which statement best describes the changes in the labour statistics?

Even though the difference in labour-force participation rates of males and females has narrowed, the participation rate of males remains higher.

In a year when net employment growth is zero, approximately how many employees are moving from failing to growing firms?

The following people are currently out of work: Deb, who is actively looking for a job; Ted, who is not looking for a job because he doesn't think he could find one; Alex who is working part-time but is looking for full-time work; and Cam, who is not looking for a job because he takes care of his twin sons. Who does Statistics Canada consider to be unemployed?

What impact would an increase in the minimum wage have on the quantity demanded and quantity supplied of labour?

Mary Sue is the newly appointed CEO of a company that manufactures USB flash drives on an assembly line. Her staff has told her that the output the firm produces, given the number of workers employed, indicates that some workers may be shirking. According to efficiency wage theory, what should she do?