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Unemployment falling from 6 percent while the labor force grows can still mean the number employed rose because the rate is a:
ACount, not a ratio
BFixed legal figure
CPurely random figure
DRatio, not a count
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. Ratio, not a count
1. A rate can move for reasons other than the numerator.
2. The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed divided by the labor force.
3. Both parts of that ratio can change at once.
4. Population and labor force growth kept the rate slightly above 6 percent during one recovery.
5. So the rate is a ratio rather than a raw count of jobs.
_Source: OpenStax Principles of Macroeconomics for AP Courses 2e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 7 'Unemployment'_
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