Assignment:
1- Cyclical unemployment occurs because the economy experiences cycles. For instance, a recession cause increase in unemployment rate. Individual are able and willing to work but no jobs are available and this is considered a cyclical unemployment. Frictional unemployment is the time it takes for workers to find a new job. In the labor market individual change jobs and even if there is many jobs available it take time for position to be filled and this is considered frictional unemployment.
2- To calculate the unemployment rate, we must measure both the labor force and the number of unemployed. The number of unemployed can be calculated by subtracting the number of employed from the labor force. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) defines people as employed if they work at a paid job (including part-time jobs) or if they are unpaid workers in an enterprise operated by a family member. The BLS's definition of employed includes all those who were temporarily absent from their jobs the week of the BLS survey because of illness, bad weather, vacation, labor-management dispute, or personal reasons, whether or not they were paid by their employers for the time off.
3- The producer price index (PPI) is an index of prices that measures average change in the selling prices received by domestic producers of goods and services over time. This index measures price change from the perspective of the sellers, which may differ from the purchaser's price because of subsidies, taxes, and distribution costs and includes many goods that most consumers do not purchase. There are actually three different producer price indexes for goods at various stages of production--crude materials, intermediate goods, and finished goods. PPI doesn't directly measure the prices consumers pay, because it includes intermediate goods at early stages of production, it serves as an early predictor of consumer inflation since when costs go up, firms often raise their prices.
4- Taking a look at the different ways unemployment insurance is viewed by different individuals was pretty enlightening. I collect unemployment insurance once, and I'd have to agree with example 2. When I factored in not having to drive 1 1/2 hours each way Arlington VA, the gas, car maintenance and everything deducted from a paycheck, I was able to enjoy my paycheck as if I had worked a 40 hour week anyway. I did decide to enroll in college to say I did something with my severance pay. I resided in Maryland; however my company was based out of Virginia which pays a larger unemployment benefit.