In this chapter we examined growth in real GDP and business cycles, price-level changes, and unemployment. We saw how these phenomena are defined and looked at their consequences.
Examining real GDP, rather than nominal GDP, over time tells us whether the economy is expanding or contracting. Real GDP in the United States shows a long upward trend, but with the economy going through phases of expansion and recession around that trend. These phases make up the business cycle. An expansion reaches a peak, and the economy falls into a recession. The recession reaches a trough and begins an expansion again.
Inflation is an increase in the price level and deflation is a decrease in the price level. The rate of inflation or deflation is the percentage rate of change in a price index. We looked at the calculation of the consumer price index (CPI) and the implicit price deflator. The CPI is widely used in the calculation of price-level changes. There are, however, biases in its calculation: the substitution bias, the new-product bias, the quality-change bias, and the outlet bias.
Inflation and deflation affect economic activity in several ways. They change the value of money and of claims on money. Unexpected inflation benefits borrowers and hurts lenders. Unexpected deflation benefits lenders and hurts borrowers. Both inflation and deflation create uncertainty and make it difficult for individuals and firms to enter into long-term financial commitments.
The unemployment rate is measured as the percentage of the labor force not working but seeking work. Frictional unemployment occurs because information about the labor market is costly; it takes time for firms seeking workers and workers seeking firms to find each other. Structural unemployment occurs when there is a mismatch between the skills offered by potential workers and the skills sought by firms. Both frictional and structural unemployment occur even if employment and the unemployment rate are at their natural levels. Cyclical unemployment is unemployment that is in excess of that associated with the natural level of employment.
Here are some statistics for August 2006. Compute the unemployment rate for that month (all figures are in thousands).
Population (Civilian, noninstitutional) | 229,167 |
Civilian Labor Force | 151,698 |
Participation Rate | 66.2% |
Not in Labor Force | 77,469 |
Employed | 144,579 |
Unemployed | 7,119 |
The average price of going to a baseball game in 2011, based on the observations in the Case in Point, was $197.35. Using this average as the equivalent of a base year, compute fan price indexes for:
Suppose you are given the following data for a small economy:
Number of unemployed workers: 1,000,000.
Labor force: 10,000,000.
Based on this data, answer the following:
Suppose you are given the following data for an economy:
Month | Real GDP | Employment |
---|---|---|
1 | $10.0 trillion | 100 million |
2 | $10.4 trillion | 104 million |
3 | $10.5 trillion | 105 million |
4 | $10.3 trillion | 103 million |
5 | $10.2 trillion | 102 million |
6 | $10.3 trillion | 103 million |
7 | $10.6 trillion | 106 million |
8 | $10.7 trillion | 107 million |
9 | $10.6 trillion | 106 million |