2.5 Unemployment
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
- Explain what is meant by unemployment
- Explain the difficulties involved in measuring unemployment
- Discuss the costs of unemployment
- Distinqush between the different causes of unemployment
- Evaluate the measures that may be taken to reduce unemploymeny
What is unemployment, and what is it not?
Most governments have the key macroeconomic objective of achieving low levels of unemployment. Not being employed does not necessarily mean being unemployed. The unemployed consist of those registered as able, available and willing to work but cannot find work despite an active search.
It is not just somebody you doesn't have a job!
Stay at home mothers and fathers, the retired, students and prisoners are all people who are not working, but neither are they actively seeking work – these people would not figure in the unemployment rate for a country or region.
It is not just somebody you doesn't have a job!
Stay at home mothers and fathers, the retired, students and prisoners are all people who are not working, but neither are they actively seeking work – these people would not figure in the unemployment rate for a country or region.
Measuring unemployment |
Types of unemployment |
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