Week 6 Case Study: Macroeconomic Analysis: Unemployment and InflationOverview
A high unemployment rate in any economy is a symptom of dysfunctionality in the economy.
People need income to be able to consume, and consumption leads to production and production
leads to a higher demand for labor (employment), so unemployment is a crucial macroeconomic
issue that confronts all modern economies. A lower unemployment rate, however, is not the end
of the problem. The type of employment and the price of labor (wages) must be sufficient in
order for consumption (which is the major component of GDP) in the economy to be healthy. If
wages are low or if the prices in the economy are high, consumption would be low and thus,
production and demand for labor would be low, too. High unemployment rate, high part-time
employment rate for economic reasons, low wages, and high inflation could have negative
effects on economic growth.
Assignment Description
In this assignment, you need to identify only two specific issues related to unemployment. You
will study their past trends, provide an overview of their current status, and provide solutions to
overcome them. You will use data, articles, experts’ opinions, and government reports to draw a
clear picture of the current unemployment issues.
Some areas you might consider are the following (based on gender, education, race, age):
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Unemployment rates among young college graduates
Unemployment rates for women
Unemployment rates for men
Unemployment rates among African Americans
Unemployment rates among Hispanics
Unemployment rates among Whites
Unemployment rates among Asians
Unemployment rate among workers with high school diploma
Unemployment rate among workers with less than a high school diploma
Unemployment rate in the medical industry
Unemployment rate in the high-tech industry
Your research needs to be structured with consistent and clear thoughts. It also needs to be
supported by actual data. Your results need to be based on solid facts. Your conclusion and
recommended solution need to be thorough and based on your findings and understanding of
macroeconomic challenges and macroeconomic policies.
Revised 09/09/2021
Writing Style (APA) and Page Number Requirements
Document Type: Word
Font Type: Times New Roman or Arial
Font Size: 12
Spacing: Double
Number of Pages: Three to five pages, not counting the separate Title page and the
separate References page
Structure and Requirements
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Title Page
o Title of the paper
o Name of the author
o E-mail address of the author
o Class name
o Professor’s name
o Date
There are 5 sections to this case study (Introduction, Data, Analysis, Reflection, Solution).
You must have 5 section/headers in your paper since each section has its own marks/points
(see Case Study Rubric document).
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Introduction
Your introduction needs to include the following.
o Include a clear definition of unemployment and inflation and how and why they
occur and rise in the economy.
o Briefly provide your understanding of the relationship between GDP growth
and/or decline, high/low unemployment, and high/low inflation rates.
o Include a brief description of the two unemployment-related issues that you are
going to address in this paper and their importance. Basically, why do you think
they are important to research and resolve?
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Data
Revised 09/09/2021
Obtain data from at least 3 credible sources (not Wikipidia). Use tables, graphs, and figures to
support your argument. You can find the latest unemployment and inflation data at www.bls.gov
(Bureau of Labor Statistics).
It is important to obtain your unemployment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS) website. Follow the “Guide to using the BLS website Data” provided on this
assignment page.
You need 5 data pieces in the data section (3 General data pieces: GDP Growth Rate,
Unemployment Rate, Inflation Rate. Variable data pieces: 2 specific unemployment rates
based on your variable (gender, race, education, etc.). All pieces of data need the same 10year period you have chosen.
Data (graphs or tables) that have to be provided in this section:
o GDP: Data that represents the last 10 years of GDP growth rate (percentage).
o Inflation: Data that represents the last 10 years of inflation rate (percentage).
o Unemployment: Data that represents the last 10 years of unemployment rate
(percentage), which could be obtained from the BLS website.
o Two Issues: Data that represents the last 10 years about the two issues you are
going to address. Provide one separate data set (graph or table) for each of the two
issues, which could be obtained from the BLS website.
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Analysis
This section needs to contain the following discussions based on the data that was gathered
and your understanding of unemployment, inflation, and GDP.
o Unemployment and Inflation: Discuss the trends of unemployment and inflation
rates over the past 10 years and provide your objective analysis of the changes in
unemployment and inflation rates and the current rates. Place extra emphasis on
the periods where unemployment or inflation was either too high or too low. Also
state the effect of the high and low rates on GDP.
o Two Issues: Discuss the two unemployment-related issues you selected. Provide
an overview of their trends and use facts to highlight the major changes in their
trends and their current statuses. State the reason(s) why you believe these two
issues represent a challenge for the economy.
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Reflection and Critical Thinking
Connect all the dots together by relating your above analysis to other areas in the
macroeconomy. Basically, you will link changes in overall unemployment, the two
unemployment related issues you selected, inflation, and GDP to one another and how they
impacted each other during periods of economic decline (recessions) and periods of
economic growth (expansion).
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Solution
o State which macroeconomic policy (monetary policy or fiscal policy) might
resolve the issues you highlighted above, and state how this policy could be
implemented and why it would solve these problems.
o Finally, provide your own solution. Basically, answer the following question.
What would you do to solve the macroeconomic issues you addressed if you were
in charge of the U.S. economy? State why.
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Reference List
Use at least three professional sources to support your argument. The references need to be in
APA format.
To learn more about APA format, click (and hold your CTRL key) on the link below or
copy/paste the link into your browser address bar.
APA Resources: http://libguides.devry.edu/c.php?g=181472&p=1194156
Revised 09/09/2021
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Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
