Question

Economic costs of unemployment

Consider a hypothetical economy in which potential output is $200 billion and the natural rate of unemployment is 4%. The current unemployment rate is 5.6%. Since the unemployment rate is greater than the natural rate of unemployment, the economy's actual GDP will be______ potential GDP.
According to Okun's law, the economy's GDP gap is billion. The burden of an increase in the economy-wide unemployment rate can differ widely across regions and across different groups of people. For example, in the United States, the jobless rate among workers with only a high school diploma has tended to be________ than the jobless rate among college graduates.

Answer 1

Answer: less than; higher

Step-by-step explanation:

Since the unemployment rate is greater than the natural rate of unemployment, the economy's actual GDP will be less than potential GDP.

...the jobless rate among workers with only a high school diploma has tended to be higher than the jobless rate among college graduates.

When the economy is at its natural rate of unemployment, it means that the economy is producing at potential GDP. If however, the unemployment rate is more than this natural rate, it means that the economy is facing a downturn which is causing companies to not employ as much labor. Actual GDP is therefore lower than Potential GDP.

Workers with more specialized skills will usually feel the impact of an increase in unemployment less those with more general skills will. For this reason, college graduates will see less unemployment than those with only a high school diploma.