2. The Labor Force
• Economics define the labor force as all nonmilitary
people who are employed or unemployed.
3. Employed
• Are 16 years or older and
meet at least one of the
following requirements:
– They worked a least one hour
for pay within the last week
– They worked 15 or more
hours without pay in a family
business
– The held jobs but did not
work due to:
•
•
•
•
Illness
Vacations
Labor disputes
Bad weather.
4. Unemployed
• Are 16 years or older
and meet the following
criteria:
– They do not have a job
– They have actively
looked for work in the
prior 4 weeks
– They are currently
available for work
5. Temporary Employment
• Contingent employment
– Temporary or
part-time employment.
– Flexible work
arrangements.
– Easy discharge due to the
lack of severance pay for
temporary workers.
– Temporary workers are
often paid less and receive
fewer benefits than their
full-time counterparts.
– Some employees prefer
temporary arrangements.
6. How does being unemployed differ
from not being part of the labor force?
7. Occupational Trends
• The economy of the
United States has
transformed from a
mainly agricultural
economy in the 1800s, to
an industrial giant in the
1900s.
• The computer chip has
revolutionized the
economy since its
introduction in the late
1900s.
8. Occupational Trends
• Overall, the United States
is shifting from a
manufacturing economy
to a service economy.
• As service jobs increase,
the nation is losing
manufacturing jobs.
• Demand for skilled labor
is rising, and the supply of
skilled workers is
increasing to meet the
demand.
10. Women in the Workforce
• Overall, the number of
women in the work force
has increased from about
38 percent of all women
in 1960 to about 58
percent of all women in
1995.
• More women are:
–
–
–
–
Getting a college education
Not getting married
Not having children
Working in “Male” jobs
11. By what percent will the number of
women in the workforce have changed
between 1960 and 2006?
12. Trends in Wages and Benefits
• Earnings for college graduates
have increased
– Earnings for workers without
college degrees have
decreased.
• Benefits now make up about
28 percent of total
compensation in the economy
• For employers
– Rising benefits costs raise the
cost of doing business
– Decrease profits.
– Turns them to contingent
employment to curb benefits
costs.
13. Why might wages for workers in retail
be much lower than those for workers
in construction?
14. College Education
• Getting a college degree
greatly is now more of a
necessity rather than a
luxury
• The learning effect
– Education increases
productivity and results in
higher wages.
• The screening effect
– The completion of college
indicates to employers that
a job applicant is intelligent
and hard-working
15. Education and Income
• Potential earnings increase with increased
educational attainment.
16. Disturbing Trends in College Education
• High School graduation
rate is about 86%
• Only 68% of high school
students attend college
– 6 out of 10 enter a 4
year university
– The rest go to a two year
community college
17. Disturbing Trends in College Education
• Only 60 percent of students
who start at college finish
• Bachelors Degree (4 Years)
– 25% of the overall
population
• Masters Degree (6 Years)
– 7% of the overall
population
• Doctorate or professional
degree
– 2% of the overall
population
18. “Outside The Lines”:
Florida State
• Describe the type of “college
athlete” FSU is recruiting?
• What “extra” help are these
athletes getting?
• What were Dr. Brenda Monk’s
responsibilities?
• How would you describe Paul
Griffin?
– Was he selected by an NFL
team?
– What is his profession after he
graduates?
20. Supply and Demand in the Labor
Market
Labor Demand
• The higher the wage rate, the
smaller the quantity of labor
demanded by firms and
government.
Labor Supply
• As wages increase, the quantity
of labor supplied also increases.
Equilibrium Wage
• The wage rate that produces
neither an excess supply of
workers nor an excess demand
for workers in the labor market is
called the equilibrium wage.
21. Explain how the outcome of this scenario
affects (a) the cooks, (b) the restaurants.
22. Explain why a stable wage means
stable restaurant prices.
23. Wages and Skill Levels
• Wages vary according
to workers’ skill levels
and education. Jobs are
often categorized into
the following four
groups:
–
–
–
–
Unskilled
Semi-skilled
Skilled
Professional
28. Give reasons to explain why the supply of
doctors is low and the supply of
construction workers is high?
29. Wage Discrimination
•
•
The Equal Pay Act of 1963
– Declared that male and female
employees in the same workplace
performing the same job had to
receive the same pay.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964
– Forbids job discrimination on the
basis of:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Race
Sex
Color
Religion
nationality.
Pay Levels for Minorities
As the figure to the right shows,
racial minorities tend to earn
lower pay than white men.
30. Pay for Women
• Despite these protections
– American women today
earn about 75 percent of
what men earn.
• Reasons women don’t get
hired include:
–
–
–
–
Pregnancy
Working part-time
Distracting to men
Lack of cultural respect
• Racial ethnicity
37. Occupational Trends
• A labor union is an
organization of workers
that tries to improve:
– working conditions
– Wages
– benefits for its members
• Less than 14 percent of
U.S. workers belong to
a labor union.
– This number keeps
dropping
38. Why Unions Grew
• The union movement
took shape over the
course of more than a
century.
• The 1935 National Labor
Relations Act, also known
as the Wagner Act:
– Gave workers the right to
organize
– Required companies to
bargain in good faith with
unions.
40. Why Unions are Declining
• Several factors have led
to declines in union
membership since the
1950s:
– “Right to Work” Laws
– Economic Trends
– Fulfillment of Union
Goals
41. “Right to Work” Laws
• The Taft-Harlety Act (1947) allowed states to pass rightto-work laws.
• These laws ban mandatory union membership at the
workplace.
45. Economic Trends
• Unions have traditionally
been strongest in the
manufacturing sector
– Blue-collar workers
• Blue-collar jobs have
been declining in number
– The American economy
becomes more serviceoriented.
– Globalization
– More women in the
workforce
46. Fulfillment of Union Goals
• Union membership has
decreased simply
because their goals
have been fulfilled by
other organizations.
• The government has set
standards for workplace
safety
– More benefits being
provided by both private
and government sources
47. Unions and Negotiations
• Collective bargaining is
the process in which
union
and company
representatives meet to
negotiate
a new labor contract.
– Wages and Benefits
– Working Conditions
– Job Security
48. Wages and Benefits
• The Union negotiates
on behalf of all
members for
–
–
–
–
Wage rate
Overtime rates
Planned raises
Benefits
50. Job Security
• One of the union’s
primary goals is to
secure its members’
jobs.
• The contract spells out
the conditions under
which a worker may be
fired.
51. Labor Strike
• If no agreement is met
between the union and
the company
– The union may ask its
members to vote on a
strike.
• A strike
– An organized work
stoppage intended to force
an employer to address
union demands.
– Strikes can be harmful to
both the union and the
firm.
52. Labor Mediation
• To avoid the economic
losses of a strike, a third
party is sometimes called
in to settle the dispute.
• Mediation
– A settlement technique in
which a neutral mediator
meets with each side to try
and find an acceptable
solution that both sides
will accept.
53. Labor Arbitration
• If mediation fails, talks
may go into arbitration
• Arbitration
– A settlement technique
in which a third party
reviews the case and
imposes a decision that
is legally binding for
both sides.
