How To Decrease Unemployment Rate In The United States

In October, the United States unemployment rate dropped to 5%, as a result of the addition of 271,000 jobs. The unemployment rate refers to the "number of people above the age of 16 who are actively seeking employment, but unable to find jobs" (Tragakes 265). The unemployment rate can understate the unemployment conditions that exist in an economy as it does not include underemployed workers or discouraged workers. Underemployed worker are "people over the age of 16 with part time jobs when they would rather work full time, or with jobs that do not make full use of their skills and education" (265). Discouraged workers are "unemployed workers who given up looking for employment because, after trying unsuccessfully to find work for some time, they became discouraged and stopped searching" (266). The article states that "more part-time workers found full-time work" meaning there is a decrease in underemployed workers in that more people who desire to work full-time are able to find employment (Gillespie). There are four type of unemployment, seasonal, cyclical, structural, and frictional, . Unemployment that occurs during a "financial crisis" or "economic slowdown" is cyclical unemployment as it is associated with recessionary gaps …show more content…
Unemployment is negative for the government because it costs them to provide unemployment benefits and to deal with the social problems that result from unemployment. Also, there is a loss of income for unemployed workers, also resulting in decreased government tax revenue because consumers will not have as large of an income tax to pay. Furthermore, there will a loss of real output as there is not full employment of resources. There are also non-economic costs of unemployment which included: greater psychological stress, increased personal problems, and increased social problems such as crime and