Unemployment

Measuring Unemployment Civilian Labor Force is the sum of civilian employment and civilian unemployment. These individuals are civilians (not members of the Armed Services) who are age 16 years or older, and are not in institutions such as prisons, mental hospitals, or nursing homes.

What it does not measure: Classification of unemployed: workers over the age of 16 who are not working but are able to work and who have looked for work sometime during the previous four weeks. US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) surveys the labor force in 60,000 households each month. They divide the number of unemployed person by the total number of workers in the civilian labor force to get the unemployment rate. What it does not measure: Discouraged workers who have stopped looking for work. The underemployed, ppl who work part-time when they want full-time work or those who work at a job below their skill level.

Seasonal Unemployment: unemployment that is linked to seasonal work Types of Unemployment Frictional Unemployment: temporary unemployment experienced by people changing jobs. This is normal, and not a threat to economic stability. Example: parent who spent time at home and now returned to workforce. Seasonal Unemployment: unemployment that is linked to seasonal work Example: unemployment of high school students rises in the summer because everyone is looking for a job Farmers in the winter as the harvest season is over.

Structural Unemployment: when jobs exist but do not match the skills of available workers. Occurs when jobs are eliminated by changes in the economy. Ex: automation. More long term than frictional. The unemployed may need to return to school or learn new skills before finding employment. Cyclical Unemployment: unemployment caused by a part of the business cycle with decreased economic activity. Occurs when the economy hits a low point in the business cycle and employers decide to lay off workers. Cyclical unemployment rises in a recession, falls in an expansion.