Skip to content

Who's In the Labor Force?

Run the Who's In the Labor Force? MicroSim Fullscreen
Edit in the p5.js Editor

About This MicroSim

This MicroSim shows how the total US population is divided into labor force categories: employed, unemployed, and not in the labor force (students, retirees, homemakers, discouraged workers, and others). A nested rectangle diagram visually represents these groups, and three key statistics -- the unemployment rate, labor force participation rate, and employment-to-population ratio -- are calculated and displayed with their formulas. A critical insight highlights that "discouraged workers" who have stopped looking for jobs are not counted as unemployed, which means the official unemployment rate can understate the true level of joblessness.

How to Use

  1. Examine the Diagram: Look at the nested rectangles showing the Labor Force (employed + unemployed) on the left and the Not in Labor Force categories on the right.
  2. Click on Segments: Click on any colored segment in the diagram (Employed, Unemployed, Students, Retired, Homemakers, Discouraged, Other) to see a detail panel with a description and real-world examples.
  3. Read the Statistics Cards: Below the diagram, three stat cards show the Unemployment Rate, Participation Rate, and Employment Ratio with their formulas and calculations.
  4. Consider the Key Insight: Read the critical thinking note at the bottom about discouraged workers and think about why the official unemployment rate might not tell the full story.

Iframe Embed Code

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/economics-course/sims/labor-force-breakdown/main.html"
        height="482px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Grade Level

9-12 (High School Economics)

Duration

10-15 minutes

Prerequisites

  • Understanding of what it means to be employed or unemployed
  • Awareness that not everyone in the population works
  • Basic understanding of percentages and ratios

Activities

  1. Exploration (5 min): Click on each segment to learn who is included. Pay special attention to the "Discouraged" category. Why are these people not counted as unemployed even though they want a job?
  2. Guided Practice (5 min): Using the stat cards, verify the unemployment rate calculation by dividing the number of unemployed by the labor force. Then discuss why the labor force participation rate matters: what happens to the unemployment rate if 5 million discouraged workers start looking for jobs again?
  3. Assessment (5 min): Write a one-paragraph explanation of why the unemployment rate alone does not fully capture the health of the labor market. Use at least two other statistics or categories from the sim to support your argument.

Assessment

  • Students can define the labor force and correctly identify who is included and excluded
  • Students can calculate the unemployment rate given the number of employed and unemployed people
  • Students can explain why discouraged workers and the labor force participation rate matter for understanding the true employment picture

References

  1. Labor Force - Wikipedia - Definition and measurement of the labor force across countries.
  2. Unemployment Rate - Bureau of Labor Statistics - How the US government measures unemployment and labor force participation.
  3. Discouraged Worker - Investopedia - Explanation of discouraged workers and why they affect unemployment statistics.