Premium Essay

Econ: Unemployment

In: Business and Management

Submitted By alexisva1991
Words 913
Pages 4
Econ 202

Unemployment in the US The unemployment rate in the United States has gone through changes in the past few years. It can fluctuate from high to low depending on our economy’s stability at the time. With the economy in a recent recession the level of unemployment rose. This affected millions of US citizens as well the US GDP levels. When citizens are out of work fewer products are being purchased and retail starts to decline. The US economy is slowly coming out of the financial crisis and recession within the last recent years. It wasn’t until the past year of 2011 did our economy see a positive turn around and unemployment levels began to decline. The Unites States economy has been showing increasingly positive signs throughout the year 2011. The unemployment rate fell recently in 2012 and is continuing to show good signs for a better economy. As of January 2012 the unemployment rate has fell to 8.3% in the Unites States. This is the lowest level the economy has seen since February 2009. Since August 2011 the unemployment rate has decreased by .8%. The widespread unemployment experienced in the last recent years is not the worst the US economy has ever experienced. The unemployment rate in the US averages 5.70 % from 1948 to 2010. The worse rate experienced was a record high for unemployment during November of 1982 with a 10.80% rate. There is hope though for the future with the unemployment rate slowly declining. In last several years the United States was experiencing a recession. The recession officially started in the first quarter of 2008. GDP levels fell rapidly at 1.8 %. During the recession in recent years there was a peak of 10.2 % unemployment rate in October of 2009. The 10.2 % unemployment rate in October of 2009 was the highest level seen throughout the recession in recent years. Although, the US economy is

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Evaluation from the Classic Prospective

...and took on the classic theory. WHAT IS THE CLASSIC STYLE This style was adopted by the World Bank because is believes is a free market and limited role in the states. (Econ online) Classic style believes that the economy is best left to the markets to run free and without control, to let the market have free reign will build itself and keep itself going without government or state control. The best way to do this is to promote entrepreneurship to make state owned industries private own, and redo the labor markets by making states at will or Right to Work by reducing the union power. The free-market approach, where markets alone are assumed sufficient to generate maximum welfare. The public-choice approach, which is an extreme New-classical model which emphasizes that all government is ‘bad’ and leads to corruption and the gradual confiscation of private property. The market-friendly approach, which suggests that, while markets work, they sometimes fail to emerge, and a government has an important role in compensating for three main market failures: missing markets, imperfect knowledge and externalizes. (Econ online)  CLASSIC TRUMPS KEYNESIAN In the 1970 Classical, school started popping up everywhere because of the failure of Keynesianism to explain Stagflation. This is where unemployment and inflation are both high at the same time. (New Classical) The wage rate is what...

Words: 439 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Accounting

...ECON 201 Dr. Peach Fall 2015 Research Report #2: The Minimum Wage In Research Report #2 you will be analyzing state-level differences in the minimum wage. In your essay, answer the following questions with data from the sources provided at the end of the assignment. Only use data from the sources provided! Remember, this is an academic essay so it should read as such. Note: the unemployment rate and per capita income for the U.S. are not the average of these variables across the 50 states. In your essay answer the following questions using economic theory, data, and your own insights. Your essay should be about 500 words in length (about 2 pages double-spaced with standard font and margins). The page length does not include your tables. Include the following heading information: Your Name Section You Attend The Minimum Wage and Unemployment in the United States Questions to Answer 1. What is the rational for implementing a minimum wage i.e. what is its intended purpose? 2. Which states have a minimum wage that is higher than the federal minimum wage? Include Washington, D.C. as a state. 3. Which state has the highest minimum wage? What is it currently? What feature of it makes it likely that it will increase over time? 4. Create a table with the unemployment rate in August 2015 for the states referenced in question 3. Calculate the average unemployment rate for the group. Is this average higher or lower than the national unemployment rate for...

Words: 396 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Becon 330 Hw 2

...Allen Saparzadeh Econ 330 HW2 1. What do Neo-Classical Economists argue causes unemployment?  Be very specific…is it good or bad for the economy, fair or unfair, voluntary or involuntary, etc.  Explain carefully. Neoclassical Economists believe that discrepancy in wages causes unemployment. They also believe that all types of unemployment are voluntary, efficient, fair, random, and self –correcting [by supply and demand]. They believe that a certain degree of unemployment is healthy. Types of unemployment include structural, frictional, and seasonal unemployment. 2. How does Keynes critique, and thus modify, the Neoclassical view of unemployment?  Describe his contributions to the theories of unemployment. Keynes describes unemployment as non-voluntary, unfair, inefficient, and does not believe that it will fix itself. He believes that unemployment is related to business cycles and that unemployment undergoes a positive feedback (unemployment leads to more unemployment). Keynes and other political economists believe that government intervention may be necessary to fix the unemployment issue. 3. Discuss what the gender gap is and the short and long-term impact it has on women and their families.   The gender gap is the ration between women’s wages and men’s wages for full time workers. Women on average make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. Economists evaluate women make over $11,000 less a year, accumulating a gap of over $400,000 in her lifetime. ...

Words: 475 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Bus Management 515 Dimco Supply Chain

...2010 ECO550009016: Managerial Economics and Globalization Strayer University Abstract The scope of this paper is to investigate, prove or disprove the implications that due to our current economic status for the past twelve months our GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth, inflation, unemployment, corporate profits and other data has played a relevant part on where our economy currently is in the business cycle today. It implies that these factors may play a significant part on our prospective for higher sales, labor cost and growth from a monopolistically competitive firm or industry. Various official U.S. sources on statistics have been complied and examined as well as information from numerous websites and articles and have been studied to see if these analysis are founded for today’s economy. Studies from the Labor Statics, the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Federal Reserve Board have conducted, similar aspects on the business cycle pertaining to GDP growth, inflation, unemployment and corporate profits about the business cycle. We will also look at the of a monopolistically competitive firm (beauty salons) to see if they will experience growth when unemployment is low or what will happen when higher employment effect a downturn in the business cycle. According to the Burea of Economic Analysis the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) from 2008 to 2010, personal consumption to government consumption expenditures has fluctuated from 0.8% to 1.6% starting...

Words: 1590 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Econ 214 Problem Set

...Rachel Wilkinson ECON 214-B14 Prof. Kuo January 28, 2013 Problem Set 1 1) Real dollars for 2010 (largest to smallest real box office receipts, in millions) Star Wars ($1,661.9) E.T. ($903.8) Titanic ($816.4) Avatar ($773.3) Shrek 2 ($504.8) 2) employed, unemployed, or not in the labor force a. Beth is not working; she applies for a job at Wal-Mart last week and is awaiting the result of her application - unemployed b. Juan is vacation in Florida during a layoff at General Motors plant due to a model changeover, but he expects to be recalled in a couple of weeks - not in the labor force c. Bob was laid off as a carpenter when a construction project was completed. He is looking for work but has been unable to find anything except a $10 per hour job which he turned down - unemployed d. Jade works 70 hours per week as a homemaker for her family of 6 - unemployed e. Carson , a 17 year old, works six hours per week as a delivery person for the local newspaper - employed f. Brady works three hours in the mornings at the clinic and for the last two weeks has spent the afternoons looking for a full time job - employed 3) labor force participation rate/ unemployment rate/ employment/population ratio a. Labor Force Participation Rate - 48.7% b. Unemployment Rate - 8% c. Employment/Population Ratio - 40.7% 4) AD and SRAS a. 5400 b. Yes, it is a long run equilibrium level of GDP because the economic profits are zero. The...

Words: 347 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Student

...Research Data on Unemployment in Ecuador Leslie Lopez ECON 224-Macroeconomics Unit 4- Individual Project 4/14/2012 All of over the world but mostly in Latin American countries unemployment is a very harsh reality that a lot of people have to face. There are two major relationships between unemployment and the economy. One being that because there aren’t enough jobs to fill that imposes and cost on the economy because there are fewer goods and services to employee people. The second is there are fewer labor jobs and not everyone is well educated to take the administrative jobs that are available. So this cause people to take more labor job then Admin jobs which puts labor jobs in high demand. Unemployment is involuntary and cause many ill effects on the population. It cause destruction of the family life, Loss of self-esteem, insecurities of finding a new job, Increase in crime rate and high amount of school dropout rates. Studies show that unemployment impairs the physical and psychological wealth fare of humans; higher levels of alcoholism and suicide come about from this situation. The main idea and understanding of unemployment is that there are too many people that need jobs and too few jobs to employ them. But in reality when economists have realized that wages are not flexible enough to clear markets. The recession that happened in 2008-2009 has had a big impact on Ecuador which in order for them to recover they had to change their currency to...

Words: 548 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Macroecnomics

...Fundamentals of Economic Lorinda Davis ECON/372 August 7, 2012 George Edwards Fundamentals of Economic The fundamentals of economics consist of a many challenges in today’s society. There are six main points of economics the writer will discuss in this paper. The gross domestic product, the unemployment rate, the inflation rate, the real GDP, the interest rate, and the nominal rate. The GDP represents the dollar values of goods and service over a period of time. The gross domestic product is a measure of a country values based on good produced, services rendered, and government spending and the difference of exports minus the imports. The real GDP is the measure of the output that is acclimated for inflation or deflation. The nominal GDP is totally different that the change in price is not account for. Unemployment rate is the percentage of the American population that is able to work, but are currently out of work. The inflation rate is the percentage change in the increase of the price of goods and services. Lastly, the interest are define as an annual percentage divide by the principle balance owed by borrowed money. Purchasing of Groceries, Massive Layoff of Employment, and the Decrease of Taxes The financial activities provide the infrastructure for the U.S. economy. In part two the writer will consider how these affect the purchase of groceries, layoffs, and taxes. The government is one part the equation that makes the economics their financial activities may...

Words: 259 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Econ 214 Problem 3

...liberty university econ 214-d08 (Your Name) Econ 214 Problem Set 3 Complete all questions listed below. Clearly label your answers. 1. Will increases in government spending financed by borrowing help promote a strong recovery from a severe recession. Why or why not? 2. Does fiscal policy have a strong impact on aggregate demand? Did the shift of the federal budget from deficit to surplus during the 1990s weaken aggregate demand? Did the government spending increases and large budget deficits of 2008–2011 strengthen aggregate demand? Discuss. 3. What is the current rate of unemployment? (See bls.gov and state the month you are reporting.) How rapidly has GDP grown during the past 3 years? (See bea.gov and state the annual growth rate for each year.) What do these figures indicate about the validity of the Keynesian view? 4. Are changes in discretionary and fiscal policy likely to be instituted in a manner that will reduce the ups and downs of the business cycle? Why or why not? This assignment is due by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday of Module/Week 4. Answer No. 1 In case of financial recession, there is a shortage of funds in the country. The people living in the country do not have enough money and government is also not able to provide enough subsidies to them. One of the ways to avoid the recessionary conditions and ensure better support to the economy is borrowing money from abroad. Borrowing of funds from other countries might...

Words: 953 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Will It Get Any Better Soon?- Unemployment Rates

...Will It Get Any Better Soon? : Unemployment Rates Ariel Cooper Business Economics GM545 Summer 2011 alcoop86@gmail.com Chapter 16, Question 5 In the US economy there is always some level of unemployment present. There are people losing jobs, leaving jobs, taking temporary hiatus from employment, on a daily basis. For the purpose of this exercise will be taking an in depth look at what a specific type of unemployment entails. This unemployment type is called Frictional unemployment. Let’s begin by defining what frictional unemployment is; frictional unemployment refers to the “natural” unemployment of our economy. This is described as the transitional period in which people move from one employment position to another, sometimes experiencing up to a few weeks in between positions. (Stone, Core Economics, p. 443) During this period of time these people are frictionally unemployed, they may already have a new position waiting on them to start, or they may be holding out in search of a better employment opportunity. Frictional unemployment can also refer to when a business decides to promote a hiring freeze and does not bring in new talent due to the assumption that there are not enough qualified candidates, when in fact there are. We will now discuss why frictional unemployment is important to have in any economy. Frictional unemployment is important to have in the economy because there is a constant reallocation of resources from one productivity level to another...

Words: 1107 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

New Home Construction

...Econ Paper on New Home Construction Working in the construction industry is a challenge at times. Price increases of materials for New Home construction, economic changes in the economy all play a vital role in the construction business. “ In 2007 the New Home construction was probably at its highest level with New Home sales somewhere around 9 million homes across the United States. Then the recession hit, and the demand for New Homes was on the decline, and continued throughout 2011. There was a slight peak in 2010; however that was short lived. There was not much movement in New Home starts till 2012 which has shown a gradual increase continuing into 2013, with New Home sales somewhere around 4.4 million”. (National Economic Indicators, 2013) During the height of the housing boom, homes were overpriced; mortgages were givin based on continual expectancy in employment along with increased income expectancy. Then the economy took a turn for the worse, and the Recession was here. In 2007 the unemployment was around 4.5% and started rising through 2008, and in 2009 it was roughly 10% where it stayed at that level till 2011, where we saw and return to employment for many workers and the unemployment rate continued to decline to about 7.9% in January of 2013. With the economy in a spiral downward, unemployment high, the housing industry was hit hard. New Home construction came almost to a standstill. Homes that had been...

Words: 642 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Sasnd

...ECON 3205 Online Spring 2016 Homework 3 – Chapters 8 & 9 Due – Wednesday, February 17th ***SHOW WORKING*** Self-Check Questions Chapter 8 1. Suppose the adult population over the age of 16 is 237.8 million and the labor force is 153.9 million (of whom 139.1 million are employed). How many people are “not in the labor force?” What are the proportions of employed, unemployed and not in the labor force in the population? Hint: Proportions are percentages. ANSWER: The population is divided into those in the labor force and those not in the labor force. The number of adults not in the labor force is 237.8 – 153.9 = 83.9 million. Since the labor force is divided into employed persons and unemployed persons, the number of unemployed persons is 153.9 – 139.1 = 14.8 million. The adult population has the following proportions: 139.1/237.8 = 58.5% employed person 14.8/237.8 = 6.2% unemployed persons 83.9/237.8 = 35.3% persons out of the labor force 6. Is the increase in labor force participation rates among women better thought of as causing an increase in cyclical unemployment or an increase in the natural rate of unemployment? Why? ANSWER: The increase in labor supply was a social demographic trend, it was not caused by the economy falling into a recession. So the influx of women into the work force increased the natural rate of unemployment. Chapter 9 1. Table 9.4 shows the prices of fruit purchased by the typical college student from 2001 to 2004. What is the...

Words: 607 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Solutions for Foreclosure When Unemployed

...There is a great deal of resources in today's society for individuals to benefit from if and when times get rough. Unemployment is certainly one of those critical times when people lose their home and so much more. Since 2005, the United States has seen the unemployment rate as high as 9.61% annual in 2010 and as low as 4.61% annual in 2006. The chart below shows the unemployment rate nationwide over the past 16 years. Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey (Unemployment Rate) Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Annual | 2005 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.08  | 2006 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.61  | 2007 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 5.0 | 4.62  | 2008 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 5.4 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 6.1 | 6.1 | 6.5 | 6.8 | 7.3 | 5.80  | 2009 | 7.8 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 9.0 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.6 | 9.8 | 10.0 | 9.9 | 9.9 | 9.28  | 2010 | 9.8 | 9.8 | 9.9 | 9.9 | 9.6 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.4 | 9.8 | 9.3 | 9.61  | 2011 | 9.2 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.1 | 9.0 | 9.1 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 8.8 | 8.6 | 8.5 | 8.94  | 2012 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.0 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.7 | 7.9 | 8.07  | 2013 | 8.0 | 7.7 | 7.5 | 7.6 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 7.2 | 7.2 | 7.2 | 7.0 | 6.7 | 7.37  | 2014 | 6.6 | 6.7 | 6.6 | 6.2 | 6.3 | 6.1 | 6.2 | 6.1 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 6.15  | 2015 | 5.7 |...

Words: 1064 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Analysis of the Business Cycle and Its Impact on Economic Indicators

...Analysis of the Business Cycle and its Impact on Economic Indicators Olufunmilayo Ogutuga Economics For Managers ECON 550 Professor Saad Khalil December 10, 2011 | | Abstract It is no surprise that the economy of The United States of America is going through a cyclical peak. During the various business cycles, economic indicators revealed how the economy is doing based on gross domestic product, employment, inflation, retails sales etc. This paper would critically examine the business cycle and its implications in terms of higher sales, consumer demands and labor cost. It will also analyze how economic indicators such as Real GDP, Unemployment and Inflation have been impacted by the current and unfortunate economic situation faced in the United States today. Introduction The United States, like many other countries, is experiencing a major change in its economic system; and it is currently coming out of a recessionary business cycle which saw the production of goods and services decline, and unemployment on the rise; but the economy is moving at a snail's pace, easing into a peak. The paper will focus on how to interpret the business cycle and explain the current business cycle in the United States through an in-depth and critical look at the economic indicators. These Economic indicators will reveal the current economic situation...

Words: 1590 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Is It Really Worthwhile to Set Up Standard Working Hours in Hong Kong

...Kong? – Defects of standard working hour system Introduction The standard working hour system is the most commonly implemented working hour system utilized by both developed and developing countries to protect the right of 4employees. As one of the economies in which the employees suffer the longest working hours, Hong Kong is now preparing to introduce the standard working hour system to protect employees. In addition to governments, Mattesini and Quintieri (2006) also consider it as an effective way to lessen the unemployment rate after their study on Italy during the great depression. However, the research of them may be limited. Thus this paper serves to argue that it is unwise for the Hong Kong government to establish the standard working hour system in Hong Kong because of the possible negative influence it may bring, for example, the negative effect on the economy, the increase in production cost, and the ineffectiveness to reduce the unemployment rate. The defects of the standard working hour system Increasing the production cost If standard working hour system is established, thus extra working time beyond the standard working hour is required to produce the same products. These hours could be accomplished by either inflicting overtime work on present workers or hiring additional workers. Either of the two alternatives would create odditional cost for employers. In another aspect, it seems that employers would prefer the former pattern to finish the work. A...

Words: 2210 - Pages: 9

Free Essay

Economics Going Forward Katy, Texas Chamber of Commerce

...Going Forward Katy, Texas Chamber of Commerce Barron L. Edmonson AIU Online   Economics Going Forward Katy, Texas Chamber of Commerce In the United States of America, we have faced many obstacles and difficulties when it comes to our economy. At the beginning of 2009, job growth was down. From 2010 until this present moment we have seen steady job growth and a minor decrease in the unemployment rate. In others words people are starting to find jobs and spend money. This report will show you some of the trends associated with the US economy and it will explain how this information will affect your local economic development. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is defined as the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period, mostly calculated on an annual basis. GDP is commonly used as an indicator of the economic health of a country as well as a gauge of a country’s standard of living. (Gross Domestic Product - GDP, 2012) Some of the trends looked at in calculating GDP include, but are not limited to, the unemployment rate, job growth, and federal debt. (Amadeo, 2012) Simply put, do we have enough job growth to handle supply and demand on a local, state, and federal level? GDP is calculated by using a simple formula. GDP = C+G+I+NX. “C” represents consumption which is defined as the final purchase of a finished good or commodity. “G” represents the sum of government spending. “I” is the sum of all the country’s...

Words: 863 - Pages: 4