Deck 2: The Uslabor Market

Question 1

Which of the following is a true statement about marginally attached workers?

A) The individual has looked for a job within the past year,but not within the past month.
B) A marginally attached worker is a subset of the group considered to be discouraged workers.
C) The reason marginally attached workers are not looking for work is always because they do not believe there is a job for them.
D) The individual would like a job but has not looked for a job in the past two years.
E) Marginally attached workers are considered part of the labor force.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following best represents the gross total earnings of an employee?

A) base salary.
B) base salary and overtime payments
C) base salary,production benefits,overtime,and cost of living allowances
D) base salary,production benefits,overtime,cost of living allowances,and shift differentials
E) base salary,production benefits,overtime,cost of living allowances,and shift differentials net of any tax deductions

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following is not a true statement about the Consumer Price Index (CPI)?

A) The CPI is based on a fixed bundle of goods.
B) The CPI is not adjusted spatially and has the same value for all urban areas.
C) The CPI is used to calculate cost of living adjustments.
D) The CPI overstates true changes in the cost of living,because it does not allow for substitution among goods.
E) The CPI does not allow for the inclusion of new goods.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Suppose that the facts are as follows: Which city pays the highest real wage?

A) I
B) II
C) III
D) IV
E) V

Question 5

Which of the following individuals would be considered employed,according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics glossary?

A) a stay-at-home dad who works 40 hours a week taking care of his family
B) a mother who works 20 hours a week for her husband's business,but is never paid
C) an individual who was recently laid off and has not found another job yet
D) an elderly woman who retires from her job but still volunteers
E) a girl who is 15 working part time at a local grocery store

Question 6

What is the worker's real wage in 2002?

A) $20,488
B) $23,590
C) $35,000
D) $42,000
E) $70,000

Question 7

Which year did the worker have the highest real wages?

A) 1996
B) 1999
C) 2002
D) 2006
E) none of the above

Question 8

The straight time hourly wage equals

A) wages plus overtime plus holiday payments.
B) the hourly wage times hours worked.
C) the hourly wage times hours worked plus fringe benefits.
D) the hourly wage.
E) the hourly wage plus the hourly value of benefits for the worker.

Question 9

What is the labor force participation rate?

A) 2.4%
B) 72.7%
C) 74.5%
D) 78.4%
E) 88.9%

Question 10

Over the past several decades,the nominal wage has while the real wage has.

A) increased,increased
B) increased,decreased
C) increased,remained the same
D) remained the same,increased
E) remained the same,remained the same

Question 11

What is the worker's nominal wage in 2002?

A) $20,488
B) $23,590
C) $35,000
D) $42,000
E) $70,000

Question 12

What is the employment-to-population rate?

A) 2.4%
B) 72.7%
C) 74.5%
D) 78.4%
E) 88.9%

Question 13

Which of the following is a true statement about trends in the U.S.labor force between 1950 and 2000?

A) The male labor force participation rate has increased steadily.
B) The unemployment rate peaked during the Carter administration (1976-1980).
C) The female labor force participation rate has declined.
D) The increase in the labor force participation rate was caused by women joining the labor force.
E) The size of the labor force has not grown much over the past 50 years.

Question 14

During 2008,the number of marginally attached workers,while the unemployment rate .

A) stayed the same,increased
B) increased,increased
C) decreased,increased
D) stayed the same,stayed the same
E) stayed the same,decreased

Question 15

Which of the following individuals would be considered unemployed,according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics glossary?

A) a 15-year-old who is looking for an after school job
B) a mother that quits her job to take care of her children
C) a 22-year-old male,who is not in college,and takes a week off to go on Spring Break with his friends
D) a father who is laid off,is waiting to be recalled to his job,but is not looking for a new job
E) an individual who takes a few days off after coming down with the flu

Question 16

Total compensation includes all of the following except

A) base salary.
B) overtime.
C) opportunity cost of an alternative job.
D) health care.
E) a company car.

Question 17

Which of the following groups are not part of the working population?

A) individuals over the age of 16 who can work but currently are not looking for a job
B) individuals over the age of 16 and currently working
C) individuals over the age of 16 and are in prison
D) individuals over the age of 16 who are not working but are looking for a job
E) both A and C

Question 18

What is the unemployment rate?

A) 1.8%
B) 2.0%
C) 2.2%
D) 2.4%
E) 97.6%

Question 19

The labor force is made up of

A) the entire working population.
B) the entire working population over the age of 16.
C) the entire working population over the age of 16 who currently have a job.
D) the entire working population over the age of 16 who are looking for a job or currently have a job.
E) the entire working population over the age of 16 and individuals in prison.

Question 20

What is the employment rate?

A) 1.8%
B) 2.0%
C) 2.2%
D) 2.4%
E) 97.6%

Question 21

What is the most commonly used normative criterion?

A) Pareto efficiency
B) fairness
C) equality
D) marginal productivity
E) rational choice

Question 22

The working population is composed of two mutually exclusive groups

A) over 16 and under 16.
B) in the labor force and not in the labor force.
C) employed and unemployed.
D) in the labor force and unemployed.
E) under 16 and in the labor force.

Question 23

The structural transformation from 1950 to 2000 has caused total employment to in the agricultural sector and in the manufacturing sector.

A) decrease,increase
B) decrease,decrease
C) increase,increase
D) increase,decrease
E) decrease,remain the same

Question 24

The National Compensation Survey (NCS),published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics,is problematic.Which of the following is not one of the reasons it is problematic?

A) Rankings vary based on whether the hourly wage is used or the annual earnings.
B) The NCS is based on a sample,thus exposing it to sampling error.
C) The rankings are based on the median response,making it biased toward outliers.
D) Rankings are calculated using the mean wage,which biases the estimates.
E) The rankings vary because different occupations work a different number of hours.

Question 25

Which of the following groups are not considered to be out of the labor force?

A) students
B) stay-at-home parents
C) discouraged workers
D) marginally attached workers
E) unemployed workers