Consider the following information about two nations: In nation A, the number of employed is 4,829,000 and the size of the labor force is 5,249,000. In nation B, the number of employed is 2,661,000 and the size of the labor force is 2,950,000. Instructions: Round your answers to one decimal place. a. What is the unemployment rate in each nation? Nation A: % Nation B: % b. Nation A has unemployed workers and unemployment rate compared to nation B

a The unemployment rates are;

Nation A = 8.0%

Nation B = 9.8%

b. Nation A:

Unemployed persons = 420,000

Unemployment rate = 8.0%

Nation B:

Unemployed persons = 289,000

Unemployment rate = 9.8%

Hence Nation A has more unemployed persons (420,000) than Nation B (289,000), as well as lesser unemployment rate (8.0%) compared to Nation B (9.8%), because of their larger population.

Explanation:

The unemployment rate is the ratio of the number of unemployed persons in a population to the labor force, expressed in percentage.

The formula is given as:

unemployment rate = ( unemployed labor ÷ Labor force) × 100.

First, to calculate the number of unemployed labor, subtract the number of employed persons from the total workforce.

Nation A;

∴ unemployed persons = 5,249,000 - 4,829,000 = 420,000

∴ Unemployment rate = (420,000 ÷ 5,249,000) × 100 = 0.08001 × 100

= 8.0%

Nation B;

unemployed persons = 2,950,000 - 2,661,000 = 289,000

∴ Unemployment rate = (289,000 ÷ 2,950,000) × 100 = 0.0980 × 100

= 9.8%

b. The b part of this question is asking us to calculate the number of unemployed individuals in each nation and compare the number of unemployed persons and the unemployment rate in both nations.

In part a, we had already calculated the number of unemployed persons in both nations as;

Nation A = 420,000

Nation B = 289,000

while the unemployment rate for both nations are;

Nation A = 8.0%

Nation B = 9.8%

From the both figures we see that although Nation A has a higher number of unemployed persons than Nation B in its population (420,000 and 289,000 respectively), it has a lesser unemployment rate (8.0%) than Nation B (9.8). This is because the population of people making up the workforce in Nation A is larger than that of Nation B and this force the denominator in the calculation of the ratio of unemployment rate, hence when comparing the ratio of unemployed persons to the total population, the ratio turns out to be lower for Nation A than Nation B.

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