Unemployment in America can be caused by numerous factors such as the condition of our countries economy, jobs being created overseas due to the cheaper labor costs, and demographics across the country where job surges can occur. The United States government utilizes the rates formed the statistics received by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in order to determine a rate at which people are unemployed each month. This method consists of The Bureau of Labor Statistics conducting a survey the Current Population Survey. Now, what does the government consider as being unemployed? The Bureau of Labor Statistics currently uses six measurements when calculating unemployment that range from U-1 to U-6, and each looks at various aspects to determine …show more content…
There are three types of unemployment, frictional, structural, and cyclical unemployment. Frictional unemployment refers to those people who are in between jobs because they were moving between jobs, careers, and locations. Frictional unemployment happens because someone doesn’t get a new job immediately after leaving their old job. This occurs because the worker is, in most cases, moving from a lower wage and lower productivity job, to a higher wage and higher productivity job, voluntarily. Structural unemployment and frictional unemployment can sometimes coincide with each other. “Structural unemployment occurs when changes over time in a consumer demand and in technology, alter the structure of the total demand for labor, both occupationally and geographically”.(McConnell, 2018) A good example would be the demand for kerosene diminishing because of the new found use of coal, and trains during the industrial revolution or nowadays the diminishing demand for coal due to the new found use of other renewable energies and nuclear plants. Those who had jobs where the “structure” had been outgrown are now in between jobs and have to decide whether to change with the times and technology or start fresh with lower wages and lower productivity. The last type of employment is called cyclical unemployment. Cyclical unemployment is caused by a drop in overall spending and usually begins in the recession phase of the business cycle. Recession causes demand for goods and services to downfall; therefore, employment and employment falls and unemployment rises. Cyclical unemployment is a good example of how we, the people, control the outcome of the economy as consumers. Without that economical understanding and undoubting faith in the government the unemployment rate could be something that controls a