ECN202
Practice Questions: Macro Measurement (Labor)
1. This is a graph of the unemployment rates for different categories of
potential workers. Based on the labor market performance of the US
economy, which of the following statements would be true?
a.
b.
c.
d.
If B represents the unemployment rate for high school grads, then
A could represent the average for college grads
If A represents the unemployment rate for married men, then C
could represent the average for teenage males
If C represents the unemployment rate for construction workers,
then B could represent the average for managers
If B represents the unemployment rate for Blacks, then D could
represent the average for Whites.
2. Which scatter diagram best represents the relationship between the unemployment rate of male teenagers (x) and the
unemployment rate of prime age males (y)?
a. A
b. B
c. C
d. D
e. E
3. This is a table of four variables representing certain aspects of the US
labor market. The columns are percentages and represent the
unemployment rates and labor force participation rates for white males
plus the unemployment and labor force participation rates for black
males. Given the characteristics of the US labor market, which of the
columns would be the unemployment rate for black males?
a. A
b. B
c. C
d. D
4. Which one of the following statements is not true when we look at the US in the past twenty years?
a. unemployment rates tend to be higher in manufacturing than in service
b. as a result of increased immigration the percent of the population that is foreign born has been rising
c. employment was growing most rapidly in the manufacturing sector
d. the labor force participation rates of women has been consistently rising until the Great Recession
5. We hear a good deal about the unemployment rate, but there are
actually many dimensions to the unemployment rate. Based on the
workings of the US labor market, which of the following could be
true in the graph to the right? The lines represent unemployment
rates for two _____ groups, with the solid line (A) representing the
unemployment rate of _____
a. age / teenagers and the dashed line representing those 20 and
above
b. industry / government and the dashed line representing
manufacturing
c. racial / blacks and the dashed line representing whites
d. education / those with a high school education and the dashed
line representing those with a college education
6. Which one of the following statements is not true when we look at the US labor market?
a. an increasingly large component of the labor force in the US has a college education
b. employment growth has been faster in the US than Europe or Japan in the past 40 years
c. labor force participation rates are substantially lower in the US than most European countries
d. unemployment rates tend to peak during recessions
There are two incorrect statements: labor force participation rates are substantially lower in the US than most European
countries and the unemployment rate for Hispanics tend to be higher than the rates for blacks
7. Who would be included in the labor force?
a. Mark, a full-time student not looking for work
b. Mary, who does not have a job, but is looking for work
c. Jean, a homemaker who is raising two kids
d. Paul, a person who wants to work but has given up the search
8. Given the data in the table above, what was the unemployment rate in 2012?
a. 9.6%
b. 8.9%
c. 8.1%
d. 5.7%
9. Based on the table, in 2012 the labor force participation rate was ____.
10. Given the characteristics of the US labor market, which of the
major industries does this graph of employment represent?
a. Services
b. Manufacturing
c. Mining
d. Construction
11. Here is a graph of employment indexes for the four main
industrial sectors in the economy - Construction, Mining,
Manufacturing, and Services. Given the characteristics of
the US labor market, which of the industries would be
represented by the dashed line?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Manufacturing
Services
Construction
Mining
Government
12. In the spring of 2008 the BLS released its monthly report that indicated that employment dropped more than
50,000, which was expected, but what was unexpected was a drop in the unemployment rate. Which of the following
would be the best explanation for these seemingly contradictory results?
a. the non institutionalized population increased
b. an increase in the number of people who left the labor force
c. an increase in immigration
d. an increase in the labor force participation rate of men and women