1. 4.4 Employment and Unemployment
Understand what is meant by employment and unemployment.
Explain how unemployment is measured.
Identify types of unemployment
Explain and evaluate consequences of unemployment.

2. Full Employment
Full employment – When all those able and willing to work are in paid employment at the current wage rate
FE -when an economy is using all of its workforce. Will not be 100% a there will be people moving between jobs and some industries will be declining.

3. Unemployment
Unemployment – When workers who are able and willing to work are unable to find employment ( at current wage rate)
People who are not seeking work i.e retired people, full time students and those who decide to be house husbands/wives are not counted as unemployed.

4. Measuring Unemployment
Two ways of measuring:
Claimant Count and Labour Force Survey.
Claimant Count – This measure unemployment according to the number of people claiming unemployment benefits.
Labour Force survey – uses a standard International Labour organisation method so in line with other countries. It is a survey of households of those actively seeking work in a certain week. Unemployment using this method will be higher as not everyone claims benefits.

5. Types and causes of unemployment
Voluntary Unemployment – A person choosing not to work. Possibly jobs don’t pay as much. Or the salary they would get after tax would not be much compared to benefits they could have received.
Seasonal Unemployment – People being out of work during certain seasons, i.e tourist industry out of summer.
Frictional unemployment – Caused by workers moving between jobs.
Structural unemployment – Serious type of long term unemployment when an industry goes into decline. Workers can be both occupational and geographical immobile (skills and ability to move)

6. Technological unemployment – here capital takes the place of labour
Technological unemployment – here capital takes the place of labour. Mostly affected manufacturing and service industries i.e banking.
Cyclical Unemployment – A lack of demand in the economy for goods & services leads to fewer workers required, this leads to unemployment which leads to less money to spend etc and mass unemployment.

7. Consequences of Unemployment
Labour resources wasted
Lower Living standards
Excluded workers
Costs to taxpayers
A budget deficit
Regional problems
Social problems