Unemployment Students will understand the different types of unemployment and how unemployment impacts the economy

Economics defines the labor force as all nonmilitary people who are employed or unemployed. Employment People are considered employed if they are 16 years or older and meet at least one of the following requirements: They worked a least one hour for pay within the last week; or They worked 15 or more hours without pay in a family business; or The held jobs but did not work due to illness, vacations, labor disputes, or bad weather. Unemployment People are considered unemployed if they are 16 years or older and meet the following criteria: They do not have a job; and They have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks; and They are currently available for work.

Is all unemployment bad? Can you think of any situations where unemployment may be good? Would it be good for our economy if we reach an unemployment rate of 0?

Different types of unemployment Frictional unemployment ▫Unemployment that occurs when people take time to find a job ▫ Examples ▫In our current economy do you think this happens a lot why or why not?

Seasonal Unemployment ▫Unemployment that occurs as a result of harvest schedules or vacations, or when industries slow or shut down for a season ▫Santa Claus and his elves ▫Can you think of other examples? How about you?

Structural unemployment ▫Unemployment that occurs when workers skills do not match the jobs that are available ▫Lack of skills in the current jobs…What do you need to do as an employee? ▫New Tech ▫New resource ▫Changes in consumer demand ▫Globalization ▫Lack of education

How do frictional and structural unemployment differ? FrictionalStructural

Cyclical Unemployment ▫Unemployment that rises during economic downturns and falls when the economy improves  What tends to happen to workers that are retained?  Best example of all time, what do you think it is?

When does cyclical unemployment take place?

Calculating Unemployment Using a census, the BLS takes a poll of 50,000 people to try and estimate the unemployment rate for the entire country

Full employment ▫Everyone who wants a job has a job, not cyclical unemployment ▫Generally agreed that 4-6 unemployment is a good attainable number.

Why isn’t full employment the same as zero unemployment

Underemployment ▫Working at a job for which one is over-qualified, or working part time when full-time work is desired.

Discouraged worker ▫A person who wants a job but has given up looking  This is the group that does not count in the BLS labor statistics as unemployed.

After a car accident, John needed six months to recover. Since his recovery, he has spent the last year trying to find work in his former occupation, medical technology. So far, he has failed, even though the economy is booming. Which of the four kinds of unemployment best describes John’s situation. Please Explain.