Questions: Suppose the civilian noninstitutionalized working-age population in Italy is 35.9 million. Of these, 4.6 million are working part-time, and 15.71 million are working full-time. Assume the Statistics Canada definitions are used in calculating unemployment data. Among those not working, 3.20 million last searched for a job less than two weeks ago, while 1.72 million last searched between two and four weeks ago. An additional 0.86 million last looked for work five weeks ago, and the remaining 9.81 million who are unemployed have not searched for work in the past six weeks. Round your answers to two decimal places. What is the size of the total labor force? million How many people are unemployed? million What is the labor force participation rate? % What is the unemployment rate? %

Solution Steps

To solve the given problem, we need to calculate the total labor force, the number of unemployed people, the labor force participation rate, and the unemployment rate using the provided data.

1. Total Labor Force: The labor force includes all employed (both part-time and full-time) and unemployed individuals who have searched for a job within the last four weeks.
2. Unemployed People: This includes individuals who have searched for a job within the last four weeks.
3. Labor Force Participation Rate: This is the ratio of the labor force to the total civilian noninstitutionalized working-age population, expressed as a percentage.
4. Unemployment Rate: This is the ratio of unemployed individuals to the total labor force, expressed as a percentage.

The total labor force $L$ is the sum of all employed individuals and those who are unemployed but have recently searched for a job. This can be expressed as:

$$L = E + U$$

where:

• $E = \text{part-time workers} + \text{full-time workers} = 4.6 + 15.71 = 20.31$ million
• $U = \text{searched less than two weeks} + \text{searched two to four weeks} = 3.20 + 1.72 = 4.92$ million

Thus, the total labor force is:

$$L = 20.31 + 4.92 = 25.23 \text{ million}$$

The number of unemployed individuals $U$ who have recently searched for a job is:

$$U = 4.92 \text{ million}$$

The labor force participation rate $P$ is calculated as the ratio of the total labor force to the civilian noninstitutionalized working-age population, expressed as a percentage:

$$P = \left( \frac{L}{W} \right) \times 100$$

where $W = 35.9$ million. Therefore:

$$P = \left( \frac{25.23}{35.9} \right) \times 100 \approx 70.28\%$$

The unemployment rate $R$ is the ratio of unemployed individuals to the total labor force, expressed as a percentage:

$$R = \left( \frac{U}{L} \right) \times 100$$

Thus:

$$R = \left( \frac{4.92}{25.23} \right) \times 100 \approx 19.5\%$$

Final Answer