Ssec: Employment Unemployment: How Can Both Rates Rise at the Same Time? [Pdf]

In this investigation, students are asked to explain a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) announcement about unemployment, and look for a contradiction in the message. Then they are introduced to the definitions of employment, unemployment, and labor force, and to use these to calculate the percentage relationships in a sample survey to help explain the contradiction in the WSJ announcement. Next, they are to consider the Employment/Population Ratio as an alternative measure of change in the labor force. Lastly, students are asked to test their knowledge of unemployment and employment by comparing it to commonly held beliefs. (Note: Data in the investigation may be somewhat out of date, and teachers may wish to update it using the data citation.)