Unemployment
Unemployment may be defined as a situation in which people who are qualified for job, and willing to accept the going wage rate cannot find jobs without considerable delay. There are three important aspects to this definition.
First, a person has to be qualified for a job. A person is not involuntarily unemployed if one seeks that one is precluded from obtaining because of lack of training, experience, and education. For example, one cannot be considered an unemployed truck driver if he is unable to drive a truck.
Second, a person is not considered unemployed if he or she is not seeking a job willing to work at the market wage rate. Some can decide to withdraw their labour services because they prefer leisure to work at a market rate. These people represent a type of unemployment, but not the kind that usually presents a problem.
Third, it may take time to find a job that a person is qualified for and is willing to accept at the going wage rate. However, the delay should probably not extend beyond a 30- or 60-day period for most occupations. Some may believe that this time period is too long for people to be without jobs.
The meaning of unemployment may be elucidated further by distinguishing between different types of unemployment. There are some types of unemployment: frictional, structural, cyclical, seasonal, voluntary, and classical.
Frictional unemployment is transitional or short run in nature. Frictional unemployment is temporary unemployment that arises when people voluntarily leave a job to look for another one. The important thing about frictional unemployment is that it does not last. It may exist at all times in the economy, but for any one person or family it is transitional. Therefore, frictional unemployment is not considered a significant economic problem, and it can be reduced by improvements in the flow of information concerning job openings.
Structural unemployment is usually long run in nature. It occurs when the skills of available workers do not match the jobs vacant. Structural unemployment results from economic changes that cause the demand for specific kinds of labour to be low relative to the supply in particular markets and regions of the economy.
A relatively low demand for labour in a given market may be due to several factors. Technological change, although expected to reduce costs and expand the productive capacity of the overall economy, may have devastating effects in a particular market. Changes in consumer preferences for products expand production and employment in some areas but reduce them in others.
Cyclical unemployment occurs during recessions, when the overall demand for labour declines. This type of unemployment is due to reductions in aggregate or total demand for goods and services in the overall economy. A decline in aggregate demand in the economy reduces total production and causes general unemployment throughout the economic system.
Seasonal unemployment exists in trades or occupations where work fluctuates according to the time of year.
Voluntary unemployment exists when people choose not to work, often because they cannot find jobs that pay enough money (e.g. more than social security benefits).
Classical unemployment is the lost of jobs caused when wages are too high.
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