Economics Questions

(Objective#1)-To define and distinguish between the concepts of the Labor Force or LF and the Population of a country

· Definition of LF =#Employed + #Unemployed (actively seeking gainful Employment)

· Definition of Population =the absolute # of individuals ( residents) who live within the geographical borders of a country

· For example, in the US, the LF is an estimated 175 million persons whereas the population is an estimated 320 million persons.

· Hence, the LF < Population or it’s a subset of the population of any country. Thus, we must ask and answer the question who are the members of a country’s population who are excluded from the LF?

· Groups of Personas who are excluded from the US Labor Force:

· •Children in the case of the US who are less than 16 years old,

· •Retirees i.e. those workers in whatever categories of labor manual or professional who are retired from active work in the LF,

· •People who are institutionalized such as prisoners, severely mentally ill etc,

· •Housewives ie those whose labor services are mainly confined to housework or domestic chores (cooking, doing the laundry, shopping for grocery, etc.),

· •Members of the Armed Forces (all branches of it, Navy, Air Force etc.) ie the reason why we refer to the LF as being Civilian,

· •Severely handicapped individuals i.e. people who are paralyzed, those in the last stages of terminal diseases, people with Lugariks Disease etc,

· How does the Federal Government know who is employed and who is unemployed and who is unemployed and is seeking gainful employment and who isn’t?

· The Bureau of Labor Statistics or BLS Monthly Household Surveys which are done to monitor the ups and downs in the composition of the LF and particularly the unemployed viz. who is in and who is out of the LF.

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