Employment and unemployment (MAC) Flashcards
What are measures of employment?
The level of employment
The employment rate
What is the jobseekers allowance?
It is paid to people who are willing and able to work but are not currently in employment
What is unemployment?
The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed people as a percentage of the labour force.
The labour force consists of the unemployed plus those in paid or self employment
Unemployment can be measured as a level or as a percentage (number of people out of work / total economically active population x 100)
What is underemployment?
Underemployment includes individuals who are seeking or available for additional work.
What is the significance of an increase in the employment rate?
Increased GDP
Increased revenues and profits
Increased incomes
Improved skills
Higher government taxation revenue
What is human capital?
Refers to the knowledge and skills of a workforce that determine its productivity. Human capital may be improved by education and training.
What is the significance of a decrease in the unemployment rate?
Falling in government spending
Increased employment
The job market becoming less flexible
What is the significance of changes in the inactivity rate?
If there is an increase in the inactivity rate:
The productive capacity of the country will fall
There may be more claims on state benefits
The dependency ratio will increase
What does economically inactive mean?
Refers to people not in education employment and training who are not seeking work within the last 4 weeks and who are unavailable for work within the next 2 weeks
What are the types of unemployment?
Cyclical: You expect this type of unemployment in a recession
Structural: Where industries are in decline and workers skills are becoming out of date
Frictional: When people are between jobs
Seasonal: When people are out of work for some periods of the year
Classical or real wage inflexibility: where there are problems with the supply side of labour
What is migration?
Refers to immigration and emigration and the overall balance between the two in a country
What is immigration?
Is when people enter a country for a long term stay.
What is emigration?
Is when people exit a country for a long term stay in another country.
What is the significance of migration for employment and unemployment?
If immigrats come into a country to fill vaccines then immigration leads to an increase in employment
If immigrants are looking for work but do not find it or displace other people from work then employment may be unchanged and unemployment might increase
If immigrants come to country to earn money to send home to their families then this will adversely affect the current account of the balance of payments at least in the short run
What are the significance of skills for employment and unemployment?
The workforce is more productive
Earnings of highly skilled workers are likely to be higher than those of unskilled workers
Highly skilled workers are less likely to be unemployed and have more stable and secure employment
Inequality and poverty are likely to be lower
