My current event was about how job rates have been on the rise, again, in the last few weeks. Many experts on the economy have said that 2012 will be inconsistent. Although one recent week had the largest week-to-week jump since April of 2011, experts predict that unemployment rates will go down for next month.
Probing Question: Do you feel that studying employment rates in small time periods is important, or is the only important statistic the yearly employment rate?
http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/26/news/economy/unemployment-benefits/index.htm?iid=SF_E_River
I believe that it is most important to look at the employment rates at the end of the year and to see if there are more or less people employed from the start of the year. I think the thing that matters most is that there are more employed people at the end of the year, as that is what will really help the economy and fight poverty in the US. With employment rates observed constantly over small time periods, we can see the rate climbing or falling, but it does not really matter that much as long as more people have jobs at the end of the year. If believe that there is no problem with looking at the job rates constantly, but the information may be misleading, as the amount of employed people may have dropped from November to December, but it is still beneficial if there are more jobs than in January.
ReplyDeleteI somewhat disagree with David. Even though I do believe that it is very important to look at the overall yearly unemployment rate, I also believe that it is very important to look at the small increases and decreases too. Our nation needs to come to terms with the fact that the unemployment rate will not randomly jump higher one year; the rates will slowly rise in small increments, and even though it may fluctuate frequently, it’s still very important to keep an eye on. It is also important to study the short term unemployment rates because it can help us when the government initiates programs to help with unemployment. Knowing the short term unemployment rates can help to determine if the programs had any success. I do agree with David that the yearly unemployment rate is the most important one to look at though because it tells us exactly where our nation stands on the road to recovery from the current recession that we are in. As Marcus mentioned, the short- term unemployment rates are inconsistent, but this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t pay attention to them.
ReplyDeleteI feel that studying the unemployment/employment rates in small time periods is necessary to assessing the future of the economy. This is true because over the course of the year the unemployment rates fluctuate due to the seasonal work. If analysts study when the job rates drop and in what fields they are in, the government may try to add jobs during that section of the year. In doing this, there will be less tax payer money to pay for the unemployment and it will be beneficial for everyone. If we studied the unemployment rates for the entire year then we would see that it would be just the statistic of that particular season when the research was done. Due to the small amount of time that the tests would be done in, there would be no way of knowing what to do about the situation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alex and Lauren. I think it's better to study the unemployment rate in shorter periods of time because looking back over the data could answer why the unemployment rate rises and falls over a certain amount of months. Although looking at the end of the year and seeing that the general employment rate over the year has been high, is important, but we have to account for the fact that during those months where employment decreases, many people are jobless and trying to take care of themselves and their families. Studying the rising and falling of the employment rate can help predict other rises and falls, which could lead to problem solving about how to have more rises than falls.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there are good ideas behind looking at unemployment rates over long and short periods of time. Like Alex stated above, and I believe Marcus stated during his presentation, seasonal jobs and weather do effect the unemployment rates when the weekly reports are looked at. These two things are key factors that allow us to interpret the data. Also, weekly reports keep a constant eye on unemployment which may show that not all jobs last for years, some jobs will end after a season or someone may be fired due to economic issues. Looking at long term data of unemployment allows us to compare the rates between years. I believe comparing between differen years is key because it allows us to see at what point in time the unemployment rates were comparable; by doing this, we maybe able to compare the successes and failures of the time periods. Also, looking at that data over a long interval will allow us to see the effects of the economy. This is very important when comparing eras like we recently did! Overall, I believe that looking at unemployment rates at both incruments of time are very important.
ReplyDeleteI feel that it is important to monitor the unemployment rates because of the fact that so many people in this country are unemployed and if the government doesn't watch month to month growth and shrinkage then they won't know which methods of making jobs are effect and which ones arnt.
ReplyDeleteI agree with John that the government needs to watch month to month changes in unemployment. Like Michaela said there are seasonal jobs that change due to weather or holidays which'll affect the rate of unemployment because it opens up for more jobs.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with john. They should look at the employment at the end of the year. Stuff like this in short runs jumps up and down, you'll never get an accurate reading. In order to actually get information you need to look at a longer span of time. Also you have to look at seasons and location. Some people only have a job for the summer or the winter.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to study the unemployment rates on a month-to-month basis. If the unemployment rate increases, the government can do something to try to get more people into the workforce. However, if we are not aware of what is happening month-to-month then it will be harder and it will take longer for the government to get people jobs. Also, if there is a yearly decrease in unemployment rates then the government may not think it is necessary to do something to get people jobs. This could be a problem if the month-to-month rate is fluctuating.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my classmates when saying it is important to look at both short periods of time and yearly results for the status of the unemployment rate. I think that it is important to view short periods of time like Lauren said because it is not realistic to think that in one year our nation's unemployment rate is going to have a dramatic effect. I think it is important to view the increases and decreases in short periods of times because like Marcus said, different seasons can effect different amounts of employment or unemployment. In my opinion though, the end of the year unemployment rate is the most important because it shows the progress or decrease that each year had brought.
ReplyDeleteI think that the government should look at the unemployment rates after every month. They need to know what is going on in order to know if they need to fix it. The government can see if the unemployment is still increasing that something needs to change. If the number is staying the same or getting better, they will know that what they are doing is working. This will help in the long run, because hopefully the numbers will keep getting better. Overall, it matters more what the employment rate is like at the end of the year rather than at each month. Knowing each month is good for figuring out what is working and what is not, but it isn't the most important thing at the end. Both knowing at the end of the month and the end of the year matter because they tell the government different things.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my classmates by saying that the government needs to look at the unemployment rates after each month. This way the government wouldn't have to wait a full year to try and fix and try to improve anything that could be affecting unemployment. As Kayla said it is important knowing each month is better for figuring out what is working and what is not. Overall, this should help keep the employment rate up and improving.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is most important to study employment rates over short periods of time. I think by collecting data for short periods and then at the end of the year looking at those results would be the most beneficial. As Michaela stated, then looking at the data after a long period of time will demonstrate how the economy is doing and will be helpful in the long run. I agree with my classmates that raised the point that short term employment rate studies will help the people more because it is better to be educated periodically rather than wait a whole year especially for those who may be unemployed.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has made good points for deciding whether to study the employment rate over small time periods or at the end of the year. I think the government should look at both and compare them. They should see which months saw increases (or decreases) in the rates and look at what was done differently. Then they should determine if those things would work in other months. Sometimes the employment rate may have increased because of seasonal job openings. This would only cause a temporary increase. The overall shape of the rate should not be decided only by looking at those temporary increases. The people in charge can figure out how they want to grade the shape of employment based on statistics from both the short periods of time and the end of the year. They are definitely both important to look at, and they shouldn't just choose one to focus on. It really is tough to see what will help the employment rates when it is constantly changing. The government just has to pinpoint the things that seem to be beneficial.
ReplyDeleteI think that looking at the monthly increase is more important than the yearly. Each month people are loosing or getting a job. In the end of the year those people who lost jobs may have neve gotten one back. As nice as it is to see that there may have been a yearly increase, many people who lost their job in the year may have never recovered. Not to undermine the importance of the overall Rate, a monthly really shows a deeper look at the rate. If I took an overall batting average of a batter over a season and they have a .500 that is great but if I were to look at the average per game you could see some inconsistency and it could almost make the overall average mean less than it did if you just looked at the overall. That could apply to the job rates.
ReplyDeleteI agree with jurnee that it is important to observe the employment rate over smaller periods of time instead of just yearly. The economy should take notice of each different period and see how the employment rate was affected, either by seasonal as matt said or due to how the economy was doing. Recording the employment rate in smaller periods can also help the economy focus on how much support and solutions to periods of time when the unemployment rate is high. Only recording the yearly employment rate leaves out all the important details and information the economy could use to increase the employment rate; and that is why it is vital to keep an eye on employment rates in seprate periods of time.
ReplyDeleteI think that we need to look to month and month employment rate because our economy is one of the biggest problems that our nation has. If we look at it month to month it might help us narrow down our problem when if we just look at it yearly it might leave out huge gaps and details about out economy.
ReplyDeleteComparing the unemployment rates at the end of each month is unnecessary, clearly it is not beneficial at all if expects can't get any read out of the data. Expects saying that 2012 will be an inconsistent year is them just saying that the data the receive is not helping them come to a conclusion. The only thing constantly checking is doing is giving people false hope or the wrong idea. Instead of wasting your time checking the unemployment rate all the time the government should put their time to finding jobs or ways to make the data go up, rereading the data every month or day isn't helping the problem.
ReplyDeleteI think both are important. Studying the weekly employment rate will also reflect the yearly employment rate as well. If the employment rate goes down several weeks in a row, and each individual week is studied, that's going to play a part in the yearly rate of course. The yearly statistic shows how well the year has gone but in order to figure that out someone must find out the rate of employment each week, month, etc. Therefore, I think both the weekly statistic and the yearly statistic are important regarding employment in the year 2012.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Greg and think that it is important to study employment rates weekly because we can find trends or patterns and hopefully know if they are going to keep going up or down. It definitely is most important in the long run but it is also important to know in the future if it going to keep going up or down. If we can find trends of the employment rates then we will know sooner that we need to take action and try to help the rates get back to normal.
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