current labor force participation rate
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the current labor force participation rate stands as 63. % as of October 2019. Further, the U-6 unemployment rates in accordance with BLS are stated to be 7.7%, while the average U-3 rates as of 2018 were stated to be 3.9%. U3 entails the official unemployment rates, while U6 prices include those workers that are part-time purely for all the economic reasons (Mankiw, 2020). U6 unemployment rates count not only individuals without work who are seeking full-time employment but also calculates the marginally attached employees and those that are working part-time for economic reasons.
On the other hand, U-3 also includes part-time workers even though they are working for less time in a week, even though they prefer full-time employment but have not yet landed at it. However, it is expected that the gap between U3 and U6 rates are expected to grow in the future. It is because the gig economy is forcing people to become part-time in increasing ways.
Different factors lead to the current unemployment rates and labor participation rates. They include aggregate demand, automation in the workplace, which reduces the need for human labor, and education (Mankiw, 2020). For instance, you find that the vacancy in the job market does not match the jobs available in the market. Further, there are global competitions and demographics. Such factors have a significant impact on the number of workers that can be employed in an economy as well as the duration of unemployment and the wage rates. For example, the unemployment rates are 3.8%, as per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The discussion is necessary and relevant to our class discussions since it helps in understanding different concepts learned in class.
References
Mankiw, N. G. (2020). Principles of economics. Cengage Learning.