Content Standard 19: Unemployment and Inflation

Grade 4 Benchmarks

1. Unemployment exists when adults cannot find jobs.

Grade 8 Benchmarks

1. To be counted as unemployed, a person must be in the labor force. The labor force consists of people age 16 and over who are employed or actively seeking work. Thus the labor force is the sum of total employment and total unemployment.

3. The unemployment rate is the percentage of the labor force that is willing and able to work, does not currently have a job, and is actively looking for work.

Grade 12 Benchmarks

2. Unemployment rates differ for people of different ages, races, and sexes. This reflects differences in work experience, education, training, and skills, as well as discrimination.

3. Unemployment can be caused by people changing jobs, by seasonal fluctuations in demand, by changes in the skills needed by employers, or by cyclical fluctuations in the level of national spending.

4. Some people are unemployed even when the economy is said to be functioning at full employment.

Content Standard 1: Earning Income

Grade 8 Benchmarks

2. People make many decisions over a lifetime about their education, jobs, and careers that affect their incomes and job opportunities.

4. People with less education and fewer job skills tend to earn lower incomes than people with more education and greater job skills.

5. Investment in education and training generally has a positive rate of return in terms of the income that people earn over a lifetime.

Grade 12 Benchmarks

6. Changes in economic conditions or the labor market can cause changes in a worker's income or may cause unemployment.

• Unemployment - The Economic Lowdown Podcast Series, Episode 5
• Unemployment - The Economic Lowdown Video Series, Episode 10
• Unemployment Role Play Activity