Unemployment In America Essay

What do we know about long term and short term unemployment in America? Historically, the long-term unemployed, those out of work for 27 weeks or more have usually been between 10 and 20 percent of total unemployment. Today the number is 35.8 percent. Yet extended unemployment benefits, which went into effect in 2008, have now been allowed to lapse.Studies show that majority of the long term unemployed are not uneducated and non white.They are educated men and women who were laid off and can't find a new job. Overall, the number of working age Americans that do not have a job has increased by about 27 million since the year 2000. Full employment in a country means that every worker who wants to work and is willing to work at market-level wages

What causes this is what we call Seasonal Unemployment. Seasonal unemployment of workers in the labor force results from variations in business and industry at different points in the year. This is a common occurrence in the agricultural industry, where harvesting season demands more workers than other months. This form of unemployment also occurs in other industries like construction where in the winter in some states conditions are too harsh to work. Although the employers take that in account and the construction workers get paid more because of this three month delay in work to help them get through the months. Structural unemployment is a type of unemployment that occurs when the supply of labor exceeds the number of jobs available. It is also known as mismatch, structural unemployment occurs when new technology come out and workers aren't needed anymore because the machine takes the job. Because this unemployment refers to a shift in the structure of any given industry and decreases the need of certain type of labor ring the 1970s, the automobile industry, concentrated in the Midwest, experienced a downturn. As a result, many in the auto labor force became unemployed. At the same time, the oil industry in Texas was experiencing a boom. Many workers unemployed in the Midwest and who also possessed skills that would benefit them in Texas chose to move West to take advantage of the economic opportunities available