• Use technology to create a sampling distribution of a sample proportion given [latex]n[/latex] and [latex]p[/latex].
• Calculate the mean and standard deviation for a sampling distribution of a sample proportion.
• Recognize the difference between the standard deviation and the standard error of a sample proportion.

Sampling Variability in Unemployment Rates

Each month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases a report on the employment situation in the United States.

Included in the report is an estimate of the nationwide unemployment rate: The number of unemployed people as a percentage of the labor force. This is defined as the total number of employed individuals plus unemployed individuals who are actively looking for work.^[1]

For example: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the unemployment rate jumped from [latex]3.5\%[/latex] in February 2020 to [latex]14.8\%[/latex] in April 2020.^[3]

Note: Though the BLS presents unemployment rates as if they are a known parameter, these rates are actually estimated through two labor force surveys: the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the Current Employment Statistics Survey (CES), for a total sample size of about [latex]60,000[/latex] households from the CPS and [latex]400,000[/latex] individual employees from the CES.^[4]

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