SOLUTION: The employment is 8.6% convert it to a demical and then to a reduce fraction, and out of 390,000 people. How many are able to work?

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Question 703578: The employment is 8.6% convert it to a demical and then to a reduce fraction, and out of 390,000 people. How many are able to work?
Answer by KMST(5328) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
PERCENTAGE, DECIMAL, AND FRACTIONS:
8.6% = 8.6%2F100=highlight%280.086%29=86%2F1000=highlight%2843%2F500%29
43%2F500 is a reduced fraction because it cannot be simplified.
43 does not divide evenly by any number except 1 and 43,
and 500 does not divide evenly by 43.
There is no number we can use to divide both 43 and 500 to get a simpler fraction.

EMPLOYMENT:
As I read and interpret the problem, I would solve it like this:
Since 8.6% = 86%2F1000,
with 8.6% employment, out of 390,000 people,
(390,000)%2886%2F1000%29=%28390%29%2886%29=33,540 would be working.

NOTES:
8.6% employment could mean that considering the whole population (including stay-at-home mothers, babies, prisoners, very sick people, and very old people) only 8.6 out of every 100 are working.

Usually numbers are given for "unemployment", not "employment", and they can be measured and calculated in many different ways. Those terms are hard to define, and different people may disagree on exactly what they mean. Maybe some of those who are not working could be considered "able to work". People could also disagree about what "able to work" means.

The "unemployment" the news talk about is the percentage of people not taking a job out of the group of people who are looking for a job. Defining and measuring unemployment is tricky.

If there was 8.6% unemployment and 390,000 people were considered to be part of the labor force, there would be 33,540 of those people not working, probably looking for a job, hopefully getting some unemployment compensation, while the rest of the 390,000 had some job.