Economics Chapter 20 ~ Unemployment

When an auto company goes bankrupt and lays off its workers, who immediately start looking for new jobs, this increases the labor force and the number of people unemployed, decreases the number of people employed, and keeps the adult population unchanged.

If some of the unemployed auto workers give up looking for a job, this decreases the labor force and the number of people unemployed, keeps the number of people employed unchanged, and keeps the adult population unchanged.

If numerous students graduate from college and cannot find work, this increases the labor force and the number of people unemployed, keeps the number of people employed unchanged, and keeps the adult population unchanged.

If numerous students graduate from college and immediately begin new jobs, this increases the labor force and the number of people employed, keeps the number of people unemployed unchanged, and keeps the adult population unchanged.

If a stock market boom induces earlier retirement, this decreases the labor force and the number of people employed, keeps the number of people unemployed unchanged, and keeps the adult population unchanged.

If advances in health care prolong the life of retirees, the only affect this has is to increase the adult population.

A construction worker who is laid off because of bad weather is likely to experience short-term unemployment because the worker will be back to work as soon as the weather clears up.

A manufacturing worker who loses his job at a plant in an isolated area is likely to experience long-term unemployment because there are probably few other employment opportunities in the area. He may need to move somewhere else to find a suitable job, which means he will be out of work for some time.

A worker in the stagecoach industry who was laid off because of the growth of railroads is likely to be unemployed for a long time. The worker will have a lot of trouble finding another job because his entire industry is shrinking. He will probably need to gain additional training or skills to get a job in a different industry.

A short-order cook who loses his job when a new restaurant opens is likely to find another job fairly quickly, perhaps even at the new restaurant, and thus will probably have only a short spell of unemployment.

An expert welder with little education who loses his job when the company installs automatic welding machinery is likely to be without a job for a long time because he lacks the technological skills to keep up with the latest equipment. To remain in the welding industry, he may need to go back to school and learn the newest techniques.