Suppose that you randomly select one person 25 years of age or older.

a. What is the probability that a randomly chosen person 25 years of age or older is in the labor force?

b. If you know that a randomly chosen person 25 years of age or older is a college graduate, what is the probability that he or she is in the labor force?

c. Are the events “in the labor force” and “college graduate” independent? Justify your answer.

In the language of government statistics, you are “in the labor force” if you are available for work and either working or actively seeking work. The unemployment rate is the proportion of the labor force (not of the entire population) that is unemployed. Here are estimates from the Current Population Survey for the civilian population aged 25 years and over in a recent year. The table entries are counts in thousands of people.

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Highest education Total population In labor force Employed Didn't finish high school 27,669 12,470 11,408 High school but no college 59,860 37,834 35,857 Less than bachelor's degree 47,556 34,439 32,977 College graduate 51,582 40,390 39,293