4) During a recession, the unemployment rate
A) is, by deinition, above 25 percent.
B) is, by deinition, above 10 percent.
C) usually increases but not necessarily to 10 percent or 25 percent.
D) remains constant.
E) usually decreases.
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
5) The unemployment rate generally ________ during recessions and generally ________
during expansions.
A) increases; decreases
B) decreases; increases
C) increases; increases
D) decreases; decreases
E) increases; does not change
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
6) During a recession the unemployment rate generally ________ and during an expansion
the unemployment rate generally ________.
A) rises; falls
B) rises; rises
C) falls; rises
D) rises; does not change
E) does not change; falls
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
41
7) During an expansion, the unemployment rate generally
A) rises.
B) falls.
C) is not afected.
D) is, by deinition, below 5 percent.
E) is higher than during a recession.
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
8) Which of the following describe the United States’ unemployment rate over the last 80
years?
i. The unemployment rate has decreased each year since the Great Depression.
ii. The unemployment rate has averaged about 5.7 percent since 1929.
iii. Job creation due to defense spending and consumer spending in the 1960s drove the
unemployment rate to one of its lowest level.
A) i and ii only
B) ii and iii only
C) i, ii and iii
D) i only
E) i and iii
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
9) The highest unemployment rate in U.S. history was about
A) 10.2 percent in 2009.
B) 5.9 percent in 1972.
C) 10 percent in 1982.
D) 25 percent in 1933.
E) 52 percent in 1939.
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
42
10) During the Great Depression, the unemployment rate rose to a maximum of about
A) 10 percent.
B) 13 percent.
C) 25 percent.
D) 50 percent.
E) 67 percent.
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
11) The unemployment rates during the last 10 years in the Eurozone was
A) constantly lower than the unemployment rate in the United States and not rising toward
the U.S. unemployment rate.
B) constantly lower than the unemployment rate in the United States but were rising
toward the U.S. unemployment rate.
C) more or less constant at 3 percent.
D) generally higher than the U.S. unemployment rate.
E) approximately equal to those in the United States, with some years the U.S.
unemployment rate being slightly higher and in other years the U.S. unemployment rate
being slightly lower.
Skill: Level 3: Using models
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
12) Over the past two decades, the unemployment rates in
A) the Eurozone have been generally less than U.S. unemployment rates.
B) the Eurozone have been generally greater than U.S. unemployment rates.
C) the United Kingdom have almost always been much greater than the U.S. unemployment
rates.
D) Canada are less than the U.S. unemployment rates.
E) Japan are much larger than those in the United States.
Skill: Level 3: Using models
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
43
13) Across developed and newly industrialized economies, since 1989 the United States has
generally had
A) a higher unemployment rate than Japan and Hong Kong and a lower unemployment rate
than the Eurozone countries.
B) a lower unemployment rate than Japan and Hong Kong.
C) a higher unemployment rate than the Eurozone countries.
D) the same unemployment rate as Canada.
E) a lower unemployment rate than Hong Kong and a higher unemployment rate than
Japan and the Eurozone countries.
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
14) Countries with higher than average unemployment rates have ________ compared to the
United States.
A) less regulated labor markets
B) lower levels of technology
C) higher levels of technology
D) more generous unemployment beneits and more regulated labor markets
E) a higher labor force participation rate
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
15) In the United States over the last 50 years,
A) the labor force participation rate for women has increased to match that for women in
other developed countries.
B) both women’s and men’s labor force participation rates have increased due to
technology.
C) the change in men’s labor force participation rate explains the behavior of the
unemployment rate.
D) the labor force participation rate for women has increased to near 60 percent.
E) women’s earning power has remained fairly constant.
Skill: Level 1: Deinition
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
44
16) In the United States, over the past 50 years the total labor force participation rate
A) has increased.
B) has decreased.
C) has remained more or less constant.
D) has luctuated substantially.
E) irst decreased slightly and then increased signiicantly.
Skill: Level 1: Deinition
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
17) Since 1960, the labor force participation rate in the United States has
A) increased for men and women.
B) decreased for men and women.
C) increased for men and decreased for women.
D) increased for women and decreased for men.
E) increased for women and not changed for men.
Skill: Level 1: Deinition
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
18) Between 1960 and 2010, the labor force participation rate for women
A) increased until about 1996.
B) decreased in most years.
C) did not change.
D) irst rose sharply and then, after 1996, fell equally sharply.
E) did not change until 1992, after which it generally increased.
Skill: Level 1: Deinition
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
45
19) As technology advancements have led to more white collar jobs,
A) the unemployment rate has steadily fallen.
B) the labor force participation rate for men and women have increased.
C) a higher percentage of men of working age have entered the labor force.
D) the labor force participation rate for women has increased over the last 50 years.
E) the labor force participation rate for women has decreased since 1960.
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
20) Since 1960, the labor force participation rate in the United States
A) has remained remarkably stable.
B) has generally decrease.
C) has generally increased.
D) at irst rose sharply and then gradually decreased.
E) at irst gradually decreased and in recent years has risen sharply.
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
21) The upward trend in the U.S. labor force participation rate the past 50 years is
explained by
A) the increase in the population.
B) the increase in the male labor force participation rate.
C) the increase in the number of discouraged workers.
D) the increase in the female labor force participation rate.
E) Both answers B and D are correct.
Skill: Level 1: Deinition
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
46
22) The total U.S. labor force participation rate increased over the past 50 years because
A) the female labor force participation rate increased.
B) more men are retiring early.
C) fewer women are attending college.
D) many blue-collar jobs with rigid work hours have been created in the last decade.
E) the male labor force participation rate increased.
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
23) Which of the following statements are true concerning the labor force participation
rate?
i. The labor force participation rate for women in the United States has increased since
1959.
ii. The labor force participation rates for women across diferent countries have
converged to about 50 percent.
iii. The labor force participation rate for men in the United States has decreased since
1959.
A) i and ii
B) i, ii and iii
C) i and iii
D) iii only
E) i only
Skill: Level 1: Deinition
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
24) Over the last 50 years, in the United States the labor force participation rate for women
________, the labor force participation rate for men ________, and the over-all labor force
participation rate ________.
A) increased; decreased; increased
B) increased; decreased; did not change
C) did not change; increased; increased
D) increased; did not change; increased
E) decreased; increased; increased
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
47
25) Over the last 50 years, the U.S. labor force participation rate of men has ________ by
________ the labor force participation of women has ________. As a result, the overall U.S.
labor force participation has ________.
A) decreased; less than; increased; increased
B) decreased; more than; increased; decreased
C) decreased; about the same rate as; increased; remained steady
D) increased; less than; decreased; decreased
E) increased; more than; decreased; increased
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
26) In part, the increase in the labor force participation rate in the United States over the
last 50 years can be attributed to
A) unsuccessful job seekers becoming discouraged workers.
B) technological change in the home increasing the time available for paid employment.
C) recessionary periods followed by longer expansionary periods.
D) early retirement by men in the labor force.
E) the large increase in the men’s labor force participation rate overcoming the large
decrease in the women’s labor force participation rate.
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
27) Which of the following help explain the increase in the U.S. labor force participation
rate for women?
i. There was a signiicant fall in the number of children women were choosing to have.
ii. There was an increase in the educational level of women.
iii. Technological change in the home increased the time available for work outside the
home.
A) i only
B) ii only
C) i and ii
D) ii and iii
E) i, ii, and iii
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
48
28) In the United States, a reason for the increase of the labor force participation rate for
women is that
A) an increase in wealth allowed men to retire early.
B) more women pursued a college education and received higher wages upon graduation.
C) improved Social Security beneits are available for women if they work.
D) there has been a decrease in jobs with lexible hours.
E) fewer women married.
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
29) Over the past 50 years, the U.S. labor force participation rate has decreased for
i. men.
ii. women.
iii. the over-all labor force.
A) i only
B) ii only
C) i and iii
D) ii and iii
E) i, ii, and iii
Skill: Level 1: Deinition
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
30) Between 1960 and 2010, the labor force participation rate for men
A) increased in most years.
B) decreased in most years.
C) did not change.
D) luctuated, irst rising until about 1989 and after that, then falling.
E) did not change until 1992, after which it generally increased.
Skill: Level 1: Deinition
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
49
31) Since 2008, the U.S. labor force participation rate for men has ________ and for women
has ________.
A) gone up; gone up
B) gone down; gone up
C) been lat; gone down
D) been lat; been lat
E) gone down; gone down
Skill: Level 1: Deinition
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: New
AACSB: Relective thinking
32) In 1994, the Bureau of Labor Statistics started to report
A) the unemployment rate weekly to provide a better picture of the labor market.
B) alternative measures of the unemployment rate that include narrower measures of the
labor market.
C) alternative measures of the unemployment rate that include broader measures of the
labor market.
D) the unemployment rate by surveying 200,000 households.
E) B and C are correct answers.
Skill: Level 2: Using deinitions
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
33) U-1 is a more ________ measure of unemployment rate than the conventional U-3
measure and U-1 counts as unemployed workers who ________.
A) narrow; have been unemployed for 15 weeks or more weeks
B) narrow; have been laid of
C) broad; have been laid of
D) broad; who are discouraged workers
E) broad; are marginally attached to the labor force
Skill: Level 1: Deinition
Section: Checkpoint 6.2
Status: Old
AACSB: Relective thinking
50