The table below reports the unemployment rate, labor force participation rate, and (working-age) population for the United States in January 2008, 2011, and 2016. Using the data, answer the following questions.

a. What was the size of the labor force at the start of each year?

b. How many people were officially unemployed at the start of each year?

c. What about these numbers may cause some concern even though the unemployment rate to start of 2016 was a notch below the unemployment rate in 2008 as the economy was entering the Great Recession?

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2008 2011 2016 Unemployment Rate 5.0% 9.1% 4.9% Labor Force Participation Rate 66.2% 64.2% 62.7% Working-age Population 234m 238m 251m