Ardyn Granger
April 18, 2014
Kassens Blog
Post 2
Unemployment is an issue that
continues to circulate around our nation daily, and it includes any part of the
population who is not working but actively seeking work. This can be measured
by the unemployment rate, which is the total number of unemployed people
divided by the entire labor force. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, located within
the US Department of Labor, divides the population into 3 groups, Employed,
Unemployed, and those not in the Labor Force. They do this by surveying the
adult population and people sixteen years old and above in 60,000 households (Mankiw,
2012). The Current Population Survey, produced monthly, was just released for
March. This report contains a lot of information on different aspects of
unemployment including the unemployment rate, employment population ratio as
well as labor force participation rate.
Based on the number of households surveyed,
the unemployment rate stayed constant through March at 6.7%. With the questions
asked, the BLS was able to conclude that employment has grown in several
different sectors- including professional and business services, healthcare,
mining and lodging. Trends have not changed much overall with unemployment over
the past months, as percentages and the number of people unemployed have
remained at a steady level. Because of the little to no changes in
unemployment, this means that more and more people are finding jobs, which is
ultimately boosting our economy. The
employment population ratio, better known as the percentage of the American population
that is employed, is at 58.9% which has grown from previous years and from our
economic recession (Employment Situation, 2014). It has increased 0.4% in the
past year, but although it is a small increase this continues to be a positive trend
for our country as a whole. A little bit of a change goes a long way and this
is hopefully a good sign for years to come.
The labor force participation rate
as of the end of March was 63.2% according to the Employment Situation report,
and this has decreased from the previous year by 0.1%. While this is a slight
decrease, I do not feel as though it is a means for concern, as there could
have been a sampling error or a difference in the households questioned from
one year to another. Even though there are many economic indicators that show
that our economy is still mildly suffering, unemployment is continuing to fall
which is positive for the United States.
Although unemployment will never disappear,
it is still decreasing during this period and adding to the value of our
economy. The Employment Situation report not only provides general unemployment
statistics, but it includes different demographics to give the nation a good
picture and idea of the discrimination that is still occurring in the world
today. African Americans have a higher unemployment rate than Caucasians, with
12.4% compared to 5.8% respectively. While we have come a long way in regards
to discrimination, it is still unfortunately occurring in our society. This
could be because of several reasons, not just color. Different people have
different skillsets, and unemployment could be the result of that. These trends
will most likely continue, however it is an important part of unemployment that
we all need to be aware of, especially business owners. If our nation can
continue recognizing and improving the issues with unemployment, we will
hopefully see the rates continue to drop over the next several years.
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