Unemployment and Labor Force Participation Rates:
How are they measured and how do the rates differ in Japan and the United States?
Susan Brown, Druid Hills High School, Atlanta, Georgia
Introduction: This lesson covers the basics of measuring the unemployment rate and the labor
force participation rate and extends the concepts by comparing the rates in Japan and theUnited States since the start of the Covid pandemic. It can be used in an AP Macroeconomics
course or in a college-prep economics course.
Learning objectives:● Students will be able to calculate the unemployment rate and the labor force
participation rate.
● Students will be able to explain how changes in employment and the labor market affectthe unemployment rate and the labor force participation rate.
● Students will be able to compare the unemployment rates and labor force participation
rates of the U.S. and Japan and hypothesize explanations for differences in the twocountries' data.
Essential questions:● How do societies measure the health of their labor force?
● What are the implications of not including discouraged workers in the labor force?
● What are the shortcomings of the unemployment rate in gaging the impact of the Covid
pandemic on a country’s workforce?
● How do social and economic priorities affect the culture of the labor force in a country?
Duration: Two 90-minute class periods.
Standards:● AP Macroeconomics Topic 2.3● State of Georgia standards:○ SSEMA1 Illustrate the means by which economic activity is measured.
■ a. Identify and describe the macroeconomic goals of steady economic
growth, stable prices, and full employment.
■ c. Define unemployment rate . . . and explain how [it] is used to evaluate
the macroeconomic goals from SSEMA1a.

Lesson procedure:
1. Begin lesson with a think-pair-share in Google slides #1 regarding students’ impressionsof unemployment.
2. Teacher engages in whole group instruction using Google slides to review definitions andcalculation of unemployment rate and labor force participation rate (LFPR).
3. Using the economic data website of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis(https://fred.stlouisfed.org/ ), students research historic unemployment rate and LFPR
data for Japan and the United States and record their findings in the table provided.
4. As a class, review the research findings to ensure that students were able to find thecorrect data.
5. After students have completed their research, divide the class into three groups andassign each group one of the following articles (for differentiation, the Nippon.com
article is more advanced). Have each group report their findings to the class in responseto the questions assigned to their article:
a. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/20/business/japan-unemployment.html
i. What unique aspects of the Covid-induced global economic downturn
have kept unemployment rates lower than would be expected? (Hint:
think about the labor force participation rate (the denominator in theunemployment rate).)ii. What differences in business philosophy between Japanese and Americancompanies might account for the difference in unemployment rates
during the pandemic?
iii. What benefits might accrue to Japanese workers and their families during
the economic downturn caused by the Covid pandemic as a result of thecountry’s labor policies and practices?
b. https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a07603/
i. What has happened to the employment rate in Japan since the start of
the Covid pandemic?
ii. What has happened to Japan’s LFPR since the start of the pandemic?
What issues remain?
iii. Who is included in the category “employed persons not at work”? Does
the United States have that category in our labor force?
c. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/05/business/economy/october-2021-jobs-report.html
i. What has happened to the employment rate in the U.S. since the start of
the Covid pandemic?
ii. What has happened to the U.S. LFPR since the start of the pandemic?
What issues remain?

iii.

What does this article suggest was one main way the U.S. government
tried to support workers who lost their job as a result of the Covidpandemic?
6. To conclude the lesson, have students reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of theunemployment rate and LFPR in accurately depicting the effects of a global economic
downturn such as the current one brought on by the Covid pandemic. Then, havestudents reflect on the different experiences of workers in Japan and the U.S. since thestart of the Covid pandemic. Finally, have students discuss which system is more
efficient, and which is more equitable: a system with a more supportive private sector
backed up by government policies or a system with less support from the private sector
coupled with discretionary government stabilizers?