Question at position 12 Which of the following will most likely decrease the unemployment rate? 4MAM9Workers become discouraged and drop out of the labor force.Workers lose jobs when their skills become obsolete.Workers continue to work after reaching the retirement age. Workers switch from full-time to part-time jobs. Workers are not allowed to work from home.

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The unemployment rate is defined as the number of unemployed persons divided by the labor force (unemployed + employed), so any change that removes people from the unemployed count or increases the employed count will change the measured unemployment rate.

1) Relevant concepts
- Labor force = Employed (E) + Unemployed (U).  
- Unemployment rate = U / (E + U).  
- “Discouraged workers” are people who want work but stop actively searching and thus leave the labor force; they are no longer counted as unemployed.  
- Structural unemployment (obsolete skills) increases U; changes in work hours (full-time to part-time) typically do not change employment status; working after retirement increases E and the labor force only if the retiree re-enters as employed.

2) Step-by-step reasoning with numbers
Start example: E = 90, U = 10 → labor force = 100 → unemployment rate = 10/100 = 10.0%.

- If one discouraged worker drops out (previously counted as unemployed): U → 9, labor force → 99. New rate = 9/99 = 0.0909 = 9.09%. This is a clear decrease (from 10.0% to 9.09%).

- If one retiree re-enters work (previously out of labor force, now employed): E → 91, U stays 10, labor force → 101. New rate = 10/101 = 0.0990 = 9.90%. This also decreases the rate but by a smaller amount.

- If workers lose jobs due to obsolete skills: U increases (e.g., 11/101 = 10.89%), so unemployment rate rises.

- If workers switch full-time → part-time: they remain employed, so E and U unchanged; unemployment rate unchanged.

- If workers are forbidden to work from home: likely reduces employment or job matches and tends to increase unemployment or reduce labor participation; it would not most likely decrease the unemployment rate.

3) Why the correct answer is correct
Removing discouraged workers directly reduces the number counted as unemployed and reduces the labor force, producing a measurable drop in the unemployment rate. This is the classic statistical effect: persons who stop searching are no longer counted as unemployed, lowering U/(E+U).

4) Why other options are incorrect
- Obsolete skills → increases U (raises rate).  
- Continue working after retirement → can lower the rate but typically has smaller or less direct impact than discouraged workers leaving the labor force.  
- Full-time → part-time → no change in employment status (no change in rate).  
- Banning work-from-home → more likely to increase unemployment or reduce employment, not decrease it.

Conclusion: The option "Workers become discouraged and drop out of the labor force." most likely decreases the measured unemployment rate, which matches the provided correct answer.

类似问题

Table 1: Population, labour force and employment data for Country Y [table] Working age population | 29,500,000 Labour force | 18,650,000 Unemployed people | 1,800,000 [/table] According to Table 1, what is the unemployment rate in Country Y?

Which of the following scenarios would cause the official unemployment rate to underestimate the true level of labour market concern?

In that same steady-state, the unemployment rate is _________ percent. Round your answer to the nearest tenth of a percent.

If 85% of the unemployed find jobs and 3% of the employed lose their jobs, the natural rate of unemployment will be ________ percent. Round your answer to the nearest tenth of a percent.

Question at position 12 at the peakon the potential linein contractionin expansionat the trough

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