Question

If the working age population is 27.3 million, the number of employed persons is 10.4 million, and the number of unemployed persons is 2.9 million, what is the unemployment rate for this country?

A. 27.8%
B. 10.6%
C. 21.8%
D. 38.1%

Answer 1

The unemployment rate is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed persons (2.9 million) by the total labor force (13.3 million) and multiplying by 100 to get 21.8%. Thus, answer C (21.8%) is correct.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the unemployment rate, we divide the number of unemployed persons by the sum of the number of employed and unemployed persons, which constitutes the labor force. In the given example, the labor force is the sum of employed persons (10.4 million) and unemployed persons (2.9 million), which equals 13.3 million. The unemployment rate is then computed by dividing 2.9 million by 13.3 million and converting the result to a percentage.

Unemployment rate = (Number of Unemployed Persons / Labor Force) × 100

= (2.9 million / 13.3 million) × 100

= 0.2180451128 × 100

= 21.8%

Therefore, the correct answer is C. 21.8%.