Economists often refer to three types of unemployment: “frictional”, “cyclical” and “structural”. Cold-hearted economists are not too worried about the first two, which refer to people moving between jobs and those temporarily laid-off during a downturn. The third kind refers to people who are excluded—perhaps permanently—from the labour market. In econo-speak, structural unemployment refers to … Continue reading
Real Time Economics has been tracking the progression of the Beveridge Curve, named after the economist William Henry Beveridge, that tracks the relationship between the job openings rate and the unemployment rate. With so many jobs available, more people ought to be finding their way to work. An openings rate above 3% has historically meant … Continue reading
There is evidence of worsening labour market matching and growing structural unemployment of persistent nature in a number of countries, notably those mostly affected by current account reversals and debt crises. Upward changes in structural unemployment rates appear to be mostly driven by persistently lower job finding rates ensuing from worsened labour market matching across skills and sectors, and an increased duration of unemployment spells the Commission concludes. Continue reading
When we talk about unemployed resources, we usually do so with respect to labor (e.g., “Uncle Billy lost his job and he is now unemployed”). The blue line on the chart illustrates the proportion of the labor force not being used to produce goods and services—that is, the unemployment rate. Let’s discuss the three types … Continue reading
“We develop a framework where mismatch between vacancies and job seekers across sectors translates into higher unemployment by lowering the aggregate job-finding rate” write Aysegul Sahin, Joseph Song, Giorgio Topa, and Giovanni L. Violante in Mismatch Unemployment on newyorkfed.org. How much did mismatch contribute to the dynamics of U.S. unemployment around the Great Recession? To address this question, we … Continue reading
Krugman: So now we’re in another depression, not as bad as the last one, but bad enough. And, once again, authoritative-sounding figures insist that our problems are “structural,” that they can’t be fixed quickly. We must focus on the long run, such people say, believing that they are being responsible. But the reality is that … Continue reading
There are several overlapping structural problems writes David Brooks on NYTimes.com. The country is divided when different people take different sides in a debate. The country is really divided when different people are having entirely different debates. That’s what’s happening on economic policy. Many people on the left are having a one-sided debate about how to deal … Continue reading
“Some economic observers argue “structural unemployment” has increased in the wake of the Great Recession” write John Schmitt and Kris Warner in Deconstructing Structural Unemployment published by the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Structural unemployment refers to unemployment that reflects supply constraints in the economy: workers whose skills or geographic location don’t match with employers’ desires. Structural unemployment differs from cyclical … Continue reading