Unemployment & Economic Redress is one of 9 topics in the Grade 10 Economics CAPS syllabus, covered across 3 lessons on Study Vault. Below are real practice questions from this topic with full worked answers.
Sample practice questions
Easy
1. Unemployment occurs when a person:
Is part of the labour force but is unable to find a job despite actively seeking employment
Is not part of the labour force at all
Is employed but earning a low income
Has retired from the workforce
Answer: Is part of the labour force but is unable to find a job despite actively seeking employment — Unemployment specifically applies to people who are part of the labour force (able, willing, and actively seeking work) but are unable to find employment.
Easy
2. Unemployment caused by a downswing in the business cycle, which would likely reverse once the economy recovers, is called:
Cyclical unemployment
Structural unemployment
Frictional unemployment
Seasonal unemployment
Answer: Cyclical unemployment — Cyclical unemployment arises from the business cycle itself, with job losses during a downswing that would generally reverse once the economy enters an upswing again.
Medium
3. A country's labour force consists of 20 million people, of whom 4 million are unemployed. Calculate the unemployment rate as a percentage.
Answer: 20 — Unemployment rate = (unemployed / labour force) x 100 = (4 000 000 / 20 000 000) x 100 = 20%.
