Chapter 6
Working age population: the total number of people aged 16 years and over who are not in jail, hospital, or some other form of institutional care or in the US Armed Forces.
Current population survey (CPS): a monthly survey of households conducted by the Bureau of Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Provides a comprehensive body of data on the labor force, employment, unemployment, persons not in the labor force, hours of work, earnings, and other demographic and labor force characteristics
Labor force: the number of people employed plus the number unemployed
The survey counts as employed all persons who, during the week before the survey, either
Worked at least 1 hour as paid employees or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in their family business or
Were not working but had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent
The survey counts as unemployed all persons who, during the week before the survey,
Had no employment
Were available for work
And either
Had made specific efforts to find employment during the previous four weeks or
Were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off
Labor force participation rate: the percentage of the working-age population who are members of the labor force which = labor force/working-age population x 100.
Unemployment rate: the percentage of the people in the labor force who are unemployed, omits marginally attached workers: person who does not have a job, is available and willing to work, has not made specific efforts to find a job within the previous four weeks, but has looked for work sometime in the recent past. And also omits discouraged workers: a marginally attached worker who has not made specific efforts to find a job within the previous four weeks because previous unsuccessful attempts were discouraging. Unemployment rate = number of people unemployed/labor force x 100
Sources of unemployment
Job losers: people who are laid off from their jobs...