Topic 8 · macro
Unemployment
Not everyone who wants a job finds one — the unemployment rate shows how many.
Who counts as unemployed
Someone who has no job but is actively looking and ready to start. Unemployment rate = unemployed / labour force × 100%.
Types
Frictional (searching for or changing jobs), structural (skills do not match demand), cyclical (due to a downturn). The natural rate = frictional + structural.
Consequences
Lost income and skills, lost output (GDP below potential), social problems.
🎯 Now possible
- calculate the unemployment rate
- tell the types of unemployment apart
- explain the consequences
Cheat sheet
Unemployed = looking and ready to work
Rate = unemployed / labour force
Natural rate = frictional + structural
Cyclical rises in a crisis
Practice on this topic
Where to read more: Мэнкью — гл. 29Макконнелл–Брю — макроэкономика