Employment and unemployment

G3 Economics - syllabus K343, 2027

How unemployment is measured, its types and consequences, and policies to reduce it.

• Employment, unemployment and how they are measured

  The unemployment rate is the number unemployed as a percentage of the labour force.

• Types of unemployment

  Unemployment can be frictional, structural, cyclical or seasonal, and each has a different cause.

• Consequences of unemployment

  Unemployment costs individuals their income, firms their customers, governments their revenue, and the economy its output.

• Policies to reduce unemployment

  Demand-side policies fight cyclical unemployment; supply-side policies such as training fight structural unemployment.

• Put it together: Tackle rising unemployment

  Unemployment has risen from 3% to 6%. Some is from a recession and some from factories closing permanently. Compare three measures.