Employment Situation

Issues you should address the following three (3) questions: 1. What happened to the standard measure of the unemployment rate (the U-3 measure)? What does that say about the current state of the economy? 2. Does the standard unemployment series convey an accurate picture of the labor market? If not, what other factors should you look at? Explain. You may want to consider the average duration of unemployment, the broader measures such as U-6 which includes “discouraged workers,” the labor force participation rate or the employment-population ratio. Make sure you explain the rationale for looking at these broader measures. 3. What happened to non-farm employment? What does this say about the current state of the economy?