Question

Figure 2 represents the Texas labor market. In this simplified model, labor and capital are the only factors of production. The initial supply of labor is denoted by S0 and consists entirely of U.S. workers. The demand for labor is denoted by D. Quantity of workers are in thousands and the wage rate is for a 40-hour workweek.
(a) At labor market equilibrium, what is total weekly labor income?
(b) At labor market equilibrium, what is the weekly income earned by U.S. capital owners? (Note: the capital owners are on the demand side – the demand curve reflects their demand for labor -- so the consumer surplus is the capital owner’s income.)
Mexican labor migration yields a new labor supply curve, S1, which is the combination of domestic labor supply and Mexican labor. Given this:
(c) What is total weekly labor income?
(d) What is the weekly income earned by U.S. capital owners?

Answer 1

Answer:

Unemployment is typically described in newspaper or television reports as a percentage or a rate. A recent report might have said, for example, from August 2009 to November 2009, the U.S. unemployment rate rose from 9.7% to 10.0%, but by June 2010, it had fallen to 9.5%. At a glance, the changes between the percentages may seem small. But remember that the U.S. economy has about 155 million adults who either have jobs or are looking for them. A rise or fall of just 0.1% in the unemployment rate of 155 million potential workers translates into 155,000 people, which is roughly the total population of a city like Syracuse, New York, Brownsville, Texas, or Pasadena, California.