Sample economics questions

SAMPLE GED ECONOMICS QUESTIONS

In economics, permanent loss of one's job is referred to as displacement or dislocation. Workers lose jobs virtually every day as their employers go out of business, move, or reorganize. In today's economic climate, however, mass layoffs, also known as "downsizing," have been making headlines.
Corporate executives say that downsizing is necessary in our world of global competition and fast-changing technology. Their goal is to create lean, flexible organizations with innovative employees who work in teams that can respond to changing customer needs.

Choose the best answer to the following question, and click on the number to find if it's correct.

A telecommunications company is preparing to downsize. The employees most likely to keep their jobs

    (1) have done the same job for a number of years and know that one job very well
    (2) have a range of skills that can be used in different departments
    (3) are at their best when working independently
    (4) have a few specialized skills
    (5) have few skills but are willing to accept lower wages

The questions below refer to the following graph.

During which of the following years were workers probably most dissatisfied with their employers? Choose the best answer, and click on the number to find if it's correct.

(1) 1830 (2) 1860 (3) 1880 (4) 1920 (5) 1930

In the 1920s, union leaders were accused of being agents for communist governments. What probably happened in the light of the data on the above graph? Choose the best answer, and click on the number to find if it's correct.

(1) Most workers rallied around the unions.
(2) Many members left the unions out of fear.
(3) Thousands of immigrants from communist countries joined the unions.
(4) The government passed a law that kept union membership intact.
(5) The unions totally collapsed.

     By late 1890, one million women had taken jobs in factories in the United States. More women than men worked in the textile mills of New England and tobacco factories in the South. In New York City, women outnumbered men in the garment, or clothing, industry. During the 1800s, women had formed their own unions to work for better conditions, but none of these unions had lasted. Though women made up the majority of workers in some industries, their participation in the labor organizing movement was limited.
     In 1900, men and women garment workers organized the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union, or ILGWU. In 1910, more than 20,000 women and men in the ILGWU struck. After several weeks, employers met their demands for beter pay and shorter hours. This was a great victory for the union. The ILGWU became an important member of the AFL, the main American union organization. Along with other groups, the ILGWU tried to help women workers.
     However, most women with factory jobs did not join unions. First, many of them were young and single and expected to marry and stop working. Second, many unions refused to accept women members. Third, even unions that accepted women did little to organize them. They often held meetings in saloons, which women could not enter.

Which of the following is the main idea of the passage? Choose the best answer, and click on the number to find if it's correct.

(1) Organizing women factory workers was successful mainly in the garment industry in this period.
(2) The failure of all-women unions in this period kept women from participating fully in the labor movement.
(3) Though women outnumbered men as factory workers in this period, unions failed to organize them adequately.
(4) Though women outnumbered men in some industries, they were not full-fledged members of the labor movement.
(5) Women's attitudes toward marriage and drinking, as well as male hostility, kept them from being active in the labor union movement.