Read the Washington Post article “How Many Americans are Unemployed?” by Heather Long, posted and answer the following questions.
1a.) At the time of the story, in February 2021, how many Americans were unemployed according to the Department of Labor?
1b.) What was the reported unemployment rate?
2.) In contrast, how many people were receiving “jobless benefits” (= unemployment benefits)?
3.) According to “experts”, was the number of unemployed people closer to 10 million people, or “nearly 20 million”?
4.) The Labor Department has identified a “misclassification of people” who were counted as employed, but who should be counted as unemployed. What is it?
5.) How many adults without work had stopped looked for work? (= How many discouraged workers were there at the time of the story?)
6.) What problems had made the number of people receiving unemployment benefits an over- count of those who were unemployed?
7.) What was Fed Chair Powell’s estimate of the unemployment rate in January?
8.) What was Jason Furman’s estimate of the unemployment rate?
9a.) Shierholz, the former Labor Department economist, provided an estimate of the number of people still “economically affected by the coronavirus.” What was that number?