Gross Measures - Employment/Unemployment

Question 1

Define “structural unemployment.”

Answer 1

Unemployment in which members of the labor force are not employed because their prior types of jobs have been greatly reduced or eliminated, and/or because they lack the skills needed for available jobs.

Question 2

Define “seasonal unemployment.”

Answer 2

Unemployment in which members of the labor force are not employed because their work opportunities regularly and predictably vary by the season of the year.

Question 3

Define “official full employment.”

Answer 3

Officially, full employment exists when there is no cyclical unemployment. When there is official full employment, there could still be frictional, structural, and/or seasonal unemployment.

Question 4

Identify characteristics that exclude individuals from the labor (or work) force.

Answer 4

• Those less than 16 years old
• The retired
• Those not actively seeking work
• Those who are institutionalized
• Military members on active duty

Question 5

Define “cyclical unemployment.”

Answer 5

Unemployment in which members of the labor force are not employed because a downturn in the business cycle has reduced the current need for workers.

Question 6

Define “frictional unemployment.”

Answer 6

Unemployment in which members of the labor force are not employed because they are in transition between jobs or have imperfect information about job opportunities.