Economics · General Awareness

Unemployment and Labor Economics

1,013 Questions

Understand economic fundamentals through these questions on unemployment and labor economics. Topics cover the natural rate of unemployment, labor force participation, and official definitions of joblessness. This material is tailored for civil services and economics exam preparation.

Natural rate of unemploymentLabor force participationCauses of job displacementDefinition of unemploymentUnemployment reduction methodsGig economy impacts

Unemployment and Labor Economics Questions

Multiple choice social science employment: growth, informalisation and other issues employment - trends and structure workers and employment sources of income

State whether the following statements are True or False.
Joint Family system increases the unemployment problem.

  1. True

  2. False
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

In many traditional contexts, the joint family system is argued to contribute to disguised unemployment, as more family members work on the same land than are actually needed.

Multiple choice social science employment: growth, informalisation and other issues employment - trends and structure workers and employment sources of income

State whether the following statements are True or False.
High growth of population is the only cause of rural unemployment.

  1. True

  2. False
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

While population growth is a significant factor, rural unemployment is also caused by factors like lack of industrialization, seasonal nature of agriculture, and lack of infrastructure.

Multiple choice social science employment: growth, informalisation and other issues employment - trends and structure workers and employment sources of income

Frictional employment takes place when ______________.

  1. there are dynamic changes in the economy

  2. when there is a clash between two types of employment

  3. when there is no change in shifts in demand

  4. when there is no change in technological progress
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Frictional employment/unemployment occurs when people are changing their jobs. When individuals are seeking better job opportunities, shifting from one job to another this happens. When there are sudden boosts or downfalls in the economy this could occur. 

Multiple choice social science employment: growth, informalisation and other issues employment - trends and structure workers and employment sources of income

Disguised unemployment in the agricultural sector of India exists due to the ______.

  1. dependence of agriculture on the monsoons

  2. abolition of zamindari

  3. heavy pressure of population on land

  4. absence of trade unions in the agriculture sector
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Dependency on agriculture is increasing day by day because of lack of alternative employment opportunities and burgeoning population resulting in disguised unemployment. In fact overcrowding and consequent pressure of population on land have led to the sub-division and fragmentation of holdings decline in area of land per capita and disguised employment in agriculture.

Multiple choice social science employment: growth, informalisation and other issues employment - trends and structure workers and employment sources of income

______ is an indicator which is used for analysing the employment situation in the country.

  1. NNP

  2. Worker population ratio

  3. Number of workers

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation
Worker-population ratio is an indicator which is used for analyzing the employment situation in the country. NNP deals with national income, not employment. No. of workers is an absolute measure, which cannot be used to assess the employment situation.
Multiple choice social science employment: growth, informalisation and other issues employment - trends and structure workers and employment sources of income

Which of the following doest not determine supply of labour?

  1. Size and age-structure of population

  2. Nature of work

  3. Marginal productivity of labour

  4. Speed and Intensity of work
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The supply of labour is determined by population size, age structure, and work preferences. Marginal productivity of labour is a factor that determines the demand for labour, not the supply.

Multiple choice social science employment: growth, informalisation and other issues employment - trends and structure workers and employment sources of income

An employment situation where the marginal productivity of agricultural labour is zero is known as ___________.

  1. structural unemployment

  2. seasonal unemployment

  3. cyclical unemployment

  4. disguised unemployment
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

A situation in which available work tasks are split among resources (typically labour) such that they seem fully employed but in reality much of their time is spent in unproductive activities is called disguised unemployment. Here the marginal productivity of labour comes to zero. When aggregate demand for goods and services in the economy falls far below its capacity, a large chunk of labour force gets employed. This is known as cyclical unemployment. While structural unemployment means the change in the demand pattern for goods necessitates change in the demand pattern for labour. But labour force cannot immediately metamorphose, matching the change in demand pattern. Due to these conditions a state of unemployment occurs that is known as structural unemployment.

Multiple choice social science employment: growth, informalisation and other issues employment - trends and structure workers and employment sources of income

Which of the following is false?

  1. Self-employed and casual wage labourers are found more in rural areas than in urban areas

  2. Men are engaged in salaried employment in greater proportion than women

  3. Casual wage work engages the least workforce

  4. Salaried employment engages the least workforce
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation
When we compare the distribution of workforce in rural and urban areas we notice that the self-employed and casual wage labourers account for a total of 93% of the workforce in rural areas as compared to 60% in urban areas.
When it comes to regular salaried employment, men are found to be so engaged in greater proportion. They form 18 per cent whereas women form only 8 per cent of the workforce.
Casual wage labourers account for 33 per cent of India’s workforce. Regular salaried employees form 15% of the workforce, which is the least.
Multiple choice social science employment: growth, informalisation and other issues employment - trends and structure workers and employment sources of income

Which of the following type of employment is found in India?

  1. Structural employment

  2. Quasi employment

  3. disguised employment

  4. All of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

India faces various types of employment challenges, including structural, disguised (common in agriculture), and other forms, making 'All of these' the correct choice.

Multiple choice social science employment: growth, informalisation and other issues employment - trends and structure workers and employment sources of income

Percentage of people in non-working age group is known as ________.

  1. working - non working ratio

  2. dependency rate

  3. non-dependency rate

  4. none of the above.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The dependency rate is the ratio of people in the non-working age groups (children and elderly) to those in the working-age group.

Multiple choice evs who will do this work? cleanliness let's clean together personal and public cleanliness

Why do people choose cleaning jobs?

  1. They are illiterate.

  2. They are unemployed.

  3. They like to clean surrounding.

  4. All of the above.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

People choose cleaning jobs because they are illiterate, sometimes due to their household conditions they have to choose as they are unemployed. Some people like to clean surroundings or live to be healthy or clean life so they choose.

So, the above all statement is correct.

Multiple choice economics employment: growth, informalisation and other issues unemployment and employment generation the short run fixed price analysis of the product market liquidity preference and profit

Match the following:

List - I(Type of Unemployment) List - II(Associated Fact)
A. Frictional Unemployment 1. Non-availability of job
B. Structural Unemployment 2. Marginal productivity is zero
C. Seasonal Unemployment 3. Use of obsolete technology for production
D. Disguised Unemployment 4. Population pressure on land
  1. $4, 2, 1, 3$
  2. $1, 3, 4, 2$
  3. $4, 3, 1, 2$
  4. $1, 2, 4, 3$
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Frictional unemployment relates to job searching (1); Structural unemployment relates to technological changes (3); Seasonal unemployment relates to population pressure/seasonal cycles (4); Disguised unemployment relates to zero marginal productivity (2).

Multiple choice economics employment: growth, informalisation and other issues unemployment and employment generation the short run fixed price analysis of the product market liquidity preference and profit

Frictional unemployment is consistent with full employment.

  1. True

  2. False
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Frictional unemployment is an unemployment situation where people are not unemployed owing to not getting any job but they are unemployed because they are searching for a new job or they are getting transferred from one employment to the other. Frictional unemployment remains consistent with full employment if it is at a rate of 3-4% of the full employment.