1. Unemployment: A Mirror of the Economy? Understand what unemployment is and how it is calculated Explain who does and who does not qualify as unemployed Analyze potential reasons for unemployment rates geographic distribution

2. Breaking News Bulletin!!! Every month…9.4%...8.5%...6.8% President Harry Truman –“It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose your own.” Perhaps the most widely reported economic statistic…so what???

3. What you need to know Labor Force—the number of people 16 years old and above who are either employed or actively seeking employment –Excludes people serving in the military, retirees, anyone that is “institutionalized” So… –LF = E + U

4. Who is/is not? Retired grandpa? Stay at home mom? College student? Thief serving time in prison? Cousin in the Army? YOU?

5. Calculating Unemployment Rate Number of unemployed persons Labor Force = X100 Try on your own… Labor force has 154,082,000 people Unemployed number 15,100,000 people What is our unemployment rate? *Is that measure accurate?

6. *Accuracy of Unemployment Rate Underemployed—have a job but would like to work more Discouraged Worker—too discouraged to keep looking for work *Both are not included in the unemployment rate because they do not meet the qualifications…

7. Our Unemployment Rates Philadelphia: 5.2% April, 2014 Pennsylvania: 5.7% April, 2014 Northeast: 6.3% April, 2014 United States: 6.3% April, 2014 Detroit, Michigan: 8.9% April, 2014 * Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor