(All numbers in the thousands) In May 2015, the civilian non-institutional population was 250,455. The number of employed workers was 148,795. The number of unemployed workers was 8,674. The number not in the labor force is 92,986.
a. What was the unemployment rate? The labor force participation rate? The employment rate?
b. Why might the unemployment rate underestimate the severity of an economic downturn?