How many really suffer as a result of labor market problems? This is o

Hi Experts, GMATNinja AndrewN KarishmaB
MartyTargetTestPrep

Please can you help explain the relevant part of the passage "Since the number experiencing joblessness at some time during the year is several times the number unemployed in any month, those who suffer as a result of forced idleness can equal or exceed average annual unemployment, even though only a minority of the jobless in any month really suffer".

As per above please advise why the ans to QS 8 is Option D.

Thanks

See my above discussion for more analysis on what we want the answer to do. It needs to show that poverty statistics CAN be useful to show effects of problems in labor market, despite the author's arguments for why poverty statistics are NOT useful to show effects of labor market problems.

C says:



This says that, when we use them to determine how 'bad' things have gotten due to unemployment, there are differences between poverty statistics and earning statistics. But that doesn't mean poverty statistics are BETTER or USEFUL, either objectively or relative to earning statistics. It just says the 'hardship results' we get when measuring 'poverty' do not agree with the 'hardship results' we get when measuring 'earnings.'

It's a tricky sentence.

Let's understand it in pieces:

"The number experiencing joblessness at some time during the year" means the people who were unemployed for some time during a 12 month period.

"The number unemployed in any one month" is the number that is unemployed in one month.

The sentence says that the first number exceeds the second.

So basically, the number of people who are employed AT SOME POINT IN A YEAR is higher than the number unemployed in ANY ONE MONTH.

An example can help me understand this.

If there are 10 people unemployed each month, but it's always 10 *different* people, then there are 100 people, overall, who are unemployed at some point throughout the year, which is more people the unemployment rate per month ('10') might indicate.

The rest of the sentence says that more people can suffer than average annual unemployment might indicate, and now that I've laid out these two numbers, I can maybe see why. If 2 of those people suffer every month, then by year's end, 24 people have suffered, even though the unemployment rate was '10,' and even though only a minority of the unemployed ever 'suffered.'

All of this should explain why D is the right answer. Since DIFFERENT PEOPLE are counted as 'unemployed' throughout the year, more people 'suffer' from unemployment than the 'rate' might suggest.

Hi Diksha123456789

In Question 9 we need to choose an option that criticizes or weakens the author's argument that is:- "poverty statistics cannot properly be used to show the effects of problems in the labor market as most of those counted by the poverty statistics are elderly or handicapped or have family responsibilities which keep them out of the labor force"

now option A which is the correct ans says that - because the number of these people (handicapped , elderly etc) will remain constant in short-term, if poverty increases it can indicate that more people that had jobs became jobless or in other words there might be a shortage of jobs. so that means this indicator still can be used and it weakens the reasoning used by author.

let me know if it helps!

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.