A labor force survey in Brownland records the following data:
Employed: 189,000
Unemployed: 15,000
Not in the labor force: 84,000
a) Calculate the unemployment rate.
b) Calculate the labor force participation rate.
a) The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed as a percentage of the labor force. The labor force is the sum of the number of people employed plus the number of unemployed. Brownland's labor force is 189,000 + 15,000 = 204,000. So the unemployment rate is (15,000/204,000 ) × 100 = 7.4 percent.
b) The labor force participation rate is the percentage of the working-age population who are in the labor force. The working age population are those who are in the labor force and those who are not in the labor force. So Brownland's working-age population is 204,000 + 84,000 = 288,000, and its labor force participation rate is (204,000/288,000 ) × 100 = 70.8 percent.
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