Lesson 7
Unemployment
Employed: This category includes those who worked as paid employees,
worked in their own business, or worked as unpaid workers in a family
member’s business. Both full-time and part-time workers are counted.
This category also includes those who were not working but who had jobs
from which they were temporarily absent because of, for example,
vacation, illness, or bad weather.
Unemployed: This category includes those who were not employed, were
available for work, and had tried to find employment during the previous
four weeks. It also includes those waiting to be recalled to a job from
which they had been laid off.
Not in the labor force: This category includes those who fit neither of
the first two categories (Neither employed nor unemployed), such as
full-time students, homemakers, and retirees.
Labor force: the total number of workers, including both the employed
and the unemployed (Number of employed + Number of unemployed).
Unemployment rate: the percentage of the labor force that is unemployed
(We can calculate the unemployment rate by dividing the number of
unemployed people by the total number in the labor force, then
multiplying by 100).
The labor-force participation rate measures the percentage of the total
adult population that is in the labor force. The labor force
participation rate is calculated as: (Labor Force ÷ Civilian
Noninstitutional Population) x 100.
How government measures the amount of unemployment:
Natural rate of unemployment: the normal rate of unemployment around
which the unemployment rate fluctuates (Congress Budget Office).
Natural unemployment rate is calculated by adding frictional and
structural unemployment and dividing with the total unemployment rate.
Cyclical unemployment: the deviation of unemployment from its natural
rate. The formula for calculating the cyclical unemployment rate is:
Cyclical unemployment rate = Current unemployment rate − (Frictional
unemployment rate + Structural unemployment rate)Where: The current
unemployment rate is the total percentage of workers who are
unemployed.
NOTE: Because people move into and out of the labor force so often, there
are problems measuring unemployment. THIS IS WHY THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS
NOT A PERFECT MEASURE OF JOBLESSNESS
Reasons:
1. Those who report being unemployed may not, in fact, be trying hard to
find a job - they want to qualify for a government program that gives
financial assistance to the unemployed or because they are working but
paid “under the table” to avoid taxes on their earnings (considered as
out of the labor force or employed)
2. Some of those who report being out of the labor force may want to
work. These individuals may have tried to find a job and may have
given up after an unsuccessful search. Such individuals, called
discouraged workers, do not show up in unemployment statistics, even
though they are truly workers without jobs.
1
Lesson 7
Unemployment
Why there is unemployment: (4 ways)- the unemployment rate never falls
to zero
1. It takes time for workers to search for the jobs that are the most
suitable for them
FRICTIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT: unemployment because it takes time
for workers to search for jobs that best suit their tastes and
skills.
Causes: (That is inevitable)
o Changes in the demand for labor among different
firms.
o Changes in the composition of demand among
industries or regions (called sectoral shifts)
o Changing patterns of international trade
2. The number of jobs available in some labor markets may be
insufficient (quantity of labor supplied exceeds the quantity
demanded)
STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT: because the number of jobs available
in some labor markets is insufficient to provide a job for
everyone who wants one
Job search
the process by which workers find appropriate jobs given their tastes
and skills
Public policy and job search
Government programs try to facilitate job search in various ways:
government-run employment agency (give out job vacancies), public
training programs (ease workers’ transition from declining to growing
industries)
Minimum wages
Forces the wage to remain above the level that balances supply and
demand, it raises the quantity of labor supplied and reduces the
quantity of labor demanded compared to the equilibrium level. There is
a surplus of labor (which leads to unemployment).
Minimum-wage laws matter most for the least skilled and least
experienced members of the labor force, such as teenagers. Their
equilibrium wages tend to be low and, therefore, are more likely to
fall below the legal minimum. It is only among these workers that
minimum-wage laws explain the existence of unemployment.
Union and collective bargaining
A union is a worker association that bargains with employers over
wages, benefits, and working conditions.
The process by which unions and firms agree on the terms of employment
is called collective bargaining.
If the union and the firm do not reach an agreement, the union can
organize a withdrawal of labor from the firm, called a strike.
Efficiency wages
Above-equilibrium wages paid by firms to increase worker productivity
Differences:
o Minimum-wage laws and unions prevent firms from lowering wages in
the presence of a surplus of workers
2
Lesson 7
Unemployment
o Efficiency-wage theory improve workers’ health, decrease workers’
turnover (left job for a better one), increase workers’ efforts and
quality-- Improve productivity and profit, reduce absentism.
