Explain whether each of the following events increases, decreases, or has no effect on the unemployment rate and the labor-force participation rate.

a. After a long search, Jon finds a job.

b. Tyrion, a full-time college student, graduates and is immediately employed.

c. After an unsuccessful job search, Arya gives up looking and retires.

d. Daenerys quits her job to become a stay-at-home mom.

e. Sansa has a birthday, becomes an adult, but has no interest in working.

f. Jaime has a birthday, becomes an adult, and starts looking for a job.

g. Cersei dies while enjoying retirement.

h. Jorah dies working long hours at the office.

Go to the website of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov). What is the national unemployment rate right now? Find the unemployment rate for the demographic group that best fits a description of you (for example, based on age, sex, and race). Is it higher or lower than the national average? Why do you think this is so?

Between January 2010 and January 2016, U.S. employment increased by 12.1 million workers, but
the number of unemployed workers declined by only 7.3 million. How are these numbers consistent with each other? Why might one expect a reduction in the number of people counted as unemployed to be smaller than the increase in the number of people employed?

Economists use labor-market data to evaluate how well an economy is using its most valuable resource$-$ its people. Two closely watched statistics are the unemployment rate and the employment$-$population ratio (calculated as the percentage of the adult population
that is employed). Explain what happens to each of these in the following scenarios. In your opinion,
which statistic is the more meaningful gauge of how well the economy is doing?

a. An auto company goes bankrupt and lays off its workers, who immediately start looking for new
jobs.

b. After an unsuccessful search, some of the laid-off workers quit looking for new jobs.

c. Numerous students graduate from college but cannot find work.

d. Numerous students graduate from college and immediately begin new jobs.

e. A stock market boom induces newly enriched 60-year-old workers to take early retirement.

f. Advances in healthcare prolong the life of many retirees.

Are the following workers more likely to experience short-term or long-term unemployment? Explain.

a. a construction worker who is laid off because of bad weather

b. a manufacturing worker who loses his job at a plant in an isolated area

c. a stagecoach-industry worker who is laid off because of competition from railroads

d. a short-order cook who loses his job when a new restaurant opens across the street

e. an expert welder with little formal education who loses his job when the company installs automatic welding machinery