內(nèi)容講義成果5measurement in the macro-economy

1、5 Measurement in the macro-economyMain TopicsThe Labour ForceLabour Productivity Employment and UnemploymentThe General Price Level and Price IndicesThe Labour ForceDefinitionThe total number of workers who are available for work.Refers to all males and females, normally 16 year and over in most dev

2、eloped countries, who can contribute to the production of goods and services.Those actually in employmentThose who are unemployed but available for work.The Labour ForceThe size of labour force depends upon a wide range of demographic, economic, social and cultural factors such as:The total size of

3、population of working ageThe number of people who remain in full-time education after leaving secondary schoolThe normal retirement age for males and femalesThe number of women who join the labour force on a full-or-part-time basisIn virtually all developed economies, the labour force has increased

4、at a steady rate over the past generation, but with some slowing down in more recent years, largely as a consequence of workers retiring before the statutory retirement age and an increase in the number of school leavers remaining in higher education. The Labour ForceLabour force participation rateR

5、efers to the percentage of the total population of working age who are actually classified as being part of the labour force.A lower participation rate usually indicates that an economy has a high participation rate in higher education and a relatively large number of people opting for early retirem

6、ent.When measuring developing economies, reliability on comparable statistics shall be considered. The existence of a large subsistence sectorDifferences in the official secondary school leaving ageDifferences in attitudes towards married women seeking paid employmentPractical problems of data colle

7、ction.The Labour ForceCertain demographic trends have important influences on the size of the labor force in most developing economies.Birth rates exceed death rates unlike in developed economies. Consequently, the total population and hence the labour force in these countries is increasing.Dependen

8、cy ratios in most developing economies are high s a consequence of high birth rates and an increasing life expectancy. Consequently there is an increase in the number of economically inactive people relative to those who constitute the labor forceMany developing economies have experiences a rapid gr

9、owth in their urban populations, as there has been significant migration from rural areas. This ever0incresing urbanisation has made it very difficult for these economies to provide enough jobs to meet the needs and aspirations of its labor force. Rural dwellers unfortunately are often unaware of th

10、e realities of life in grossly-over-populated cities.Labour Productivity DefinitionRefers to the quantity of goods and services that a worker is able to produce in a particular period timeProduction- an aggregate measure, not directly related to a particular input.Variation in living standards betwe

11、en economies can often be explained in terms of variations in the productivity of the main factors of production.Labour is not a uniform resource, hence there are variations in labour productivity depending on the education, training, experience and skills of the workforce in a economy.The output la

12、bor force able to produce in an economy is also related to the skills, technical knowledge and motivation of its workforce.Employment and UnemploymentCountries measures the numbers in employment and the numbers of those unemployed Labor Force =Total number of workers in employmentTotal number of wor

13、kers who are unemployment+Employment and UnemploymentThe measurement of employment & unemployment is very important in macro-economy. If there is unemployment in an economyOutput will be below its potential level. The economy will be operating inside its PPF. Resources are not being used to the full

14、, but as the number of employed increases towards full employment, the economy will reach its PPF.The tax revenue received by the government will be lower than with a higher level of employment. If applicable, the amount of money paid out in the form of state benefits for the unemployed will in turn

15、 be lowerA high level of unemployment may result in civil unrest, increased crime rates & substantial personal problems for those unemployed and their families. The gap in economic well-being between employed & unemployed can be substantial, particularly in developing economies where the degree of s

16、tate support is limited.Employment and UnemploymentThe level of unemploymentThe total number of people who are unemployedThe rate of unemploymentThe number of unemployed people divided by the labour force.There are no universal measure of employment, but the term does cover some or all of the follow

17、ing:Those in full-time paid employmentThose on recognised training schemesThose working for a minimum number of hours per week.Those working in subsistence non-monetarised situations would be excluded, as would unpaid volunteers.General Price Level & Price IndicesGeneral price levelAn important macr

18、oeconomic variable measured by governmentA recognised measure of the cost of living in an economy at any one point in time.Changes in the general price level on a year-by-year basis in turn are a measure of the rate of inflation in an economy.Price IndexA weighted index of prices of a basket of prod

19、ucts &/or servicesThe general price level in an economy, in its simplest form, is calculated periodically using some form of price indexGeneral Price Level & Price IndicesPrice IndexRetail Price Index (RPI) is a measure of changes in the prices of consumer goods bought by people. Its calculation involves three stages. A survey to find out what families buy and how much they spend on particular items-this provides the weightsRecording how m