Assume the unemployment rates among different groups in the labor force are as follows: adult males 7.5%, adult females 7.3%, and teenagers 15%.Teenagers account for 12% of the total labor force, while men account for 54% of the adult labor force.What is the actual unemployment rate nationwide?
A)7)8%
B)8)3%
C)8)8%
D)9)2%
E)9)6%

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The actual unemployment rate nationwide can be calculated by taking into account the proportion of each group in the labor force and their respective unemployment rates. Since teenagers account for 12% of the total labor force and have an unemployment rate of 15%, they contribute 1.8 percentage points to the overall unemployment rate (12% * 15%). Adult males and females make up the remaining 88% of the labor force. With adult males accounting for 54% of the adult labor force, they represent 47.52% of the total labor force (54% of 88%). Assuming the rest are adult females, they account for 40.48% of the total labor force. Given the unemployment rates of 7.5% for adult males and 7.3% for adult females, their contributions to the overall unemployment rate are 3.57 percentage points (47.52% * 7.5%) and 2.95 percentage points (40.48% * 7.3%), respectively. Adding these contributions together gives an overall unemployment rate of approximately 8.32%, which rounds to 8.3%, making option B the correct answer.

Assume the Unemployment Rates Among Different Groups in the Labor