Different Types of Unemployment
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1. Frictional Unemployment:
· This is unemployment caused by people moving in between jobs, e.g.
graduates or people changing jobs. There will always be some frictional
unemployment.
· Also high benefits may encourage people to stay on benefits rather than get
work this is sometimes known as “voluntary unemployment”
2. Structural Unemployment
This occurs due to a mismatch of skills in the labour market it can be caused
by: a) Occupational immobility’s. This refers to the difficulties in learning
new skills applicable to a new industry, and technological change.
b) geographical Immobility’s. This refers to the difficulty in moving regions
to get a job.
c) Technological Change. If there is the developments of labour saving
technology in some industries there will be a fall in demand for labour.
d) Structural change in the economy. The decline of the coal mines due to a
lack of competitiveness meant that many coal miners were unemployed and they may
find it more difficult to get jobs in new industries such as computers
3. Classical or Real Wage Unemployment:
This occurs when wages in a competitive labour market are pushed above the
equilibrium. This is sometimes known as “disequilibrium” unemployment. Wages
will also be sticky downwards. This could be caused by minimum wages, or trades
unions
4. Demand Deficient or “Cyclical Unemployment”
This occurs when the economy is below full capacity. E.g. in a recession when
AD falls there will be a fall in output, therefore firms will employ less
workers because they are producing less goods.
5. Seasonal Unemployment
Unemployment tends to be higher during certain times of the year, either in
summer or winter depending on the country. The UK government actually produce a
seasonally adjusted unemployment figure to take this into account.
About the Author
Richard Pettinger studied Politics and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall,
Oxford University. He now works as an economics teacher in Oxford. He enjoys
writing essays on Economic and he edits an Economics Blog focused on UK and US
economies:
http://www.economicshelp.org/econ.html
Follow us @Scopulus_News
Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2007-03-17 00:12:00 in Economic Articles
