Diseases, endocrinologists. MRI
Site search

Characteristics and examples of structural unemployment. Unemployment and its types

Let's consider the concept "Unemployment: causes, types, consequences." Unemployment - The presence in the country of people who are able and willing to work for hire at the current level of wages, but cannot find work in their specialty or find employment at all. Employment structure: disabled population, able-bodied population, voluntarily unemployed, economically active population. Disabled population - Able-bodied people who are not engaged in social production and do not seek to get a job: People who, due to age and health, are not able to work: Children under 16 years of age, Pensioners (men over 60 years old, women over 55 years old), disabled people . Voluntarily unemployed: Able-bodied people not engaged in public production and not seeking to get a job: Full-time students, Housewives, Vagrants, People who were looking for work, but despaired of finding it and therefore stopped looking for work. Employed: People who have a job, and it doesn’t matter whether the person is employed full-time or part-time, full-time or part-time. A person is considered to be employed if he does not work for the following reasons: Ill, On vacation, On strike, Due to natural disasters. The following are considered unemployed: able-bodied citizens, without work and income, registered with the employment service, actively looking for work and waiting to start working. Unemployment is a socio-economic phenomenon characterized by the lack of work for part of the population. Types of unemployment: From the point of view of the nature of the displacement of a worker from production - forced, voluntary. From the point of view of the causes and conditions for the occurrence of unemployment - frictional, structural, cyclical, seasonal. Frictional unemployment - Associated with searching for work and waiting for work for various reasons, for example, moving due to a change in marital status, graduation from a university. This type of unemployment involves the movement of labor across industries, regions, due to age, change of profession, etc. Features of frictional unemployment: Ready-made specialists with a certain level of professional training and qualifications are looking for work, Unemployment of this type usually lasts a short period of time, Promotes a more rational distribution of labor and higher productivity. Structural unemployment is characterized by a mismatch between labor demand and supply in various firms, industries, and various professions; the profession “disappears” as a result of scientific and technical progress. Longer and more expensive. Cyclical unemployment - caused by changing phases in the production cycle. Represented by workers laid off at a time when the entire economy is suffering from a recession. It is believed that when the economy improves, such workers will find work again. Seasonal unemployment - as a result of necessity, seasonal work is carried out in a number of industries (for example, in agriculture). Natural unemployment - there is only frictional and structural unemployment in the country. Consequences of unemployment: economic and non-economic. Homework.

This refers to the size of the adult (over 16 years old) working-age population who has a job. But not all of the working-age population has a job; there are also unemployed. Unemployment is characterized as the number of adult working-age population who do not have a job and are actively looking for one. The total number of employed and unemployed people constitutes the labor force.

To calculate unemployment, various indicators are used, but the generally accepted one, including in the International Labor Organization, is. It is defined as the ratio of the total number of unemployed to the labor force, expressed as a percentage.

Unemployment- a socio-economic phenomenon in which part of the labor force is not employed in the production of goods and services.

However, even in such a situation, there is some unemployment, called frictional.

Causes of frictional unemployment

Frictional unemployment occurs due to the dynamism of the labor market.

Some workers voluntarily decided to change jobs, finding, for example, a more interesting or better-paid job. Others are trying to find a job because they were fired from their previous job. Still others are entering the labor market for the first time or re-entering it, moving from the category of the economically inactive population to the opposite category.

Structural unemployment

Structural unemployment - associated with technological changes in production that change the structure of demand for labor (occurs if a worker fired from one industry cannot find a job in another).

This type of unemployment occurs if the sectoral or territorial structure of labor demand changes. Over time, important changes occur in the structure of consumer demand and in production technology, which, in turn, change the structure of overall labor demand. If the demand for workers in a given profession or in a given region falls, then unemployment appears. Released workers cannot quickly change their profession and qualifications or change their place of residence and remain unemployed for some time.

In the figure, the decreased demand is represented by the line. In this case, assuming that wages do not change immediately, the intercept represents the value of structural unemployment: at the wage rate, there are people who are willing but unable to work. Over time, the equilibrium wage will fall to a level at which only frictional unemployment will again exist.

Many economists do not make a clear distinction between frictional and structural unemployment, since in the case of structural unemployment, laid-off workers begin to look for a new job.

It is important that both types of unemployment constantly exist in the economy. It is impossible to completely destroy them or reduce them to zero. People will look for other jobs, seeking to improve their well-being, and firms will seek more qualified workers, seeking to maximize profits. That is, in a market economy there are constant fluctuations in supply and demand in the labor market.

Since the existence of frictional and structural unemployment is inevitable, economists call their sum natural unemployment.

Natural rate of unemployment- this is its level that corresponds to full employment (includes frictional and structural forms of unemployment), is due to natural reasons (personnel turnover, migration, demographic reasons), and is not associated with the dynamics of economic growth.

It occurs in cases where a fall in aggregate demand for manufactured goods causes a fall in aggregate demand for labor in conditions of downward inflexibility of real wages.

The figure shows the situation of wage rigidity. The sentence is represented by a vertical line for ease of presentation.

If real wages are above the level corresponding to the equilibrium point, the supply of labor on the market exceeds the demand for it. Firms need fewer workers than the number of people willing to work at a given wage level. On the other hand, firms cannot or do not want to reduce wages for a number of reasons.

Reasons for inflexibility (rigidity) of wages:

Minimum wage law

According to this law, wages cannot be set below a certain threshold. For the majority of employees, this minimum has no practical significance, however, there are some groups of workers (unskilled and inexperienced workers, teenagers) for whom the established minimum raises earnings above the equilibrium point, which reduces the demand of firms for such labor and increases unemployment.

Although only a fraction of the country's workforce is unionized, they prefer laying off workers rather than cutting wages. The reason is this. Temporary wage cuts reduce the earnings of all workers, while layoffs in most cases affect only the most recently hired workers, who make up only a small portion of union members. Thus, trade unions achieve high wages, sacrificing the employment of a small number of workers - union members. A collective agreement concluded between a company and a trade union can also cause unemployment. As a rule, it is concluded for a long period, and if the agreed wage level exceeds the equilibrium level, then the firm will prefer to hire fewer workers at a high price.

Effective salary

Efficiency wage theories assume that high wages increase worker productivity and reduce turnover in a firm. This policy allows us to attract and retain highly qualified specialists, improve the quality of work and the interest of employees. A reduction in wages reduces motivation to work and encourages the most capable workers to look for another job.

Psychological aspect

Obviously, there is no single wage rate for all firms in the market. In large firms, wages are usually higher. However, workers at large firms sometimes prefer to remain unemployed rather than take a low-paying job. According to some economists, this behavior is caused by workers’ self-esteem and their desire for a certain position in society.

Institutional unemployment

Institutional unemployment - arises due to the limited availability of labor force and employers in up-to-date information about vacancies and the desire of workers.

The level of unemployment benefits also affects the labor market, creating a situation where an individual who has the opportunity to get a low-paid job prefers to remain on unemployment benefits.

This type of unemployment occurs if the labor market does not function efficiently enough.

As in other markets, there is limited information. People may simply not be aware of existing vacancies, or firms may not be aware of the employee's desire to take the proposed position. Another institutional factor is unemployment benefit level. If the benefit level is high enough, a situation called an unemployment trap occurs. Its essence lies in the fact that an individual who has the opportunity to get a low-paid job will prefer to receive benefits and not work at all. As a result, unemployment increases, and society suffers losses not only due to production being below potential, but also due to the need to pay inflated unemployment benefits.

Unemployment figures

Unemployment indicators also include its duration.

Duration of unemployment

Defined as the number of months a person spent without a job.

As a rule, most people quickly find work, and unemployment seems to be a short-term phenomenon for them. In this case, we can assume that this is frictional unemployment, and it is inevitable.

On the other hand, there are people who cannot find a job for months. They are called the long-term unemployed. Such people most acutely feel the burden of unemployment and often, despairing of finding work, leave the group

The consequence of production is not only inflation. The decline in the level of development of all economic spheres of society cannot but affect the state of the labor market. Inflation and unemployment reach their highest levels during periods of crisis, but these phenomena cannot be equated. It is necessary to clearly see the differences between inflation and unemployment.

The first of these phenomena reduces the living standards of citizens. Unemployment physically reshapes existing ones. Society, which has spent considerable resources on training qualified personnel, is faced with their uselessness. Millions of workers are simply superfluous to production.

It is possible that time will pass and the situation will change. Companies and organizations will once again need specialists. However, their dexterity and skill will be somewhat lost, and moral breakdown after experiencing an unstable situation will also take its toll. To restore labor resources, society will need to provide its citizens with social and economic support, the level of which will directly depend on the type and duration of unemployment. This is why deep knowledge about this phenomenon is so important.

Basic concept

Unemployment is a socio-economic phenomenon when a certain part of the active population does not have the opportunity to fully realize their mental and physical abilities in the processes of production of services and goods. Unemployment of citizens also occurs in cases where the demand for labor resources exceeds their supply.

Historical facts

The efficiency of using labor has changed as human society has developed. Thus, under the primitive system, the entire working population of the tribe was involved in hunting, cooking and other vital processes. Full employment of people is also characteristic of the slave system. During this period, huge armies of slaves worked on plantations, and free citizens became colonists, warriors, or were engaged in various trades. A similar picture was observed under feudalism.

Everything changed with the emergence of private capitalism. The dominance of market relations at the industrial stage of society's development became the cause of a new economic phenomenon called unemployment. It was then that crowds of people who were not in an employment relationship appeared.

Who is considered unemployed?

The socio-economic phenomenon when the population is not involved in production processes is closely related to the labor market. According to the definition given by the ILO, an unemployed person is considered to be a person who currently does not have a place of work, but is looking for one and is ready to participate in the production process. However, not every citizen can be classified in this category.

Thus, disabled people, elderly people and children do not fit this criterion. In addition, a citizen who has a certain income, but does not want to participate in production processes, is also not considered unemployed.

The essence of the phenomenon

The concept and types of unemployment are terms that invariably accompany the market economic system. This is confirmed by the entire history of the development of capitalist society.

Thus, in the second half of the 18th century, mass protests of the working class began in England. People protested against the use of machines, because the industrial revolution gave birth to a whole army of unnecessary workers. Then the phenomenon continued to gain momentum. This led to the fact that in 1995 a record number of unemployed people were registered on our planet. It amounted to 635 million people.

The essence and types of unemployment, as well as the number of people unemployed in production, depend on the specific period in the development of the economy, which is characterized by certain indicators, such as:

Labor efficiency;
- economic growth rates;
- the degree of compliance of personnel qualifications with the existing demand for them;
- demographic situation;
- employment policy pursued by the state.

According to statistical studies, the number of people unable to find work especially increases during periods when the economic crisis is growing in the country. An example of this is the decline in production that was observed in 1857. During this period in England, unemployment in the metalworking industry was 12%. And in the prosperous year of 1853 - only 2%. A sharp increase in the unemployment rate in 1957 was also observed in the United States. For example, in New York more than 150 thousand people were “superfluous”.

The highest unemployment was recorded during the so-called years. This was the period lasting from 1929 to 1933. Then 15% of the working population living in developed countries was left without a job. For example, in America during these years more than 10 million people received unemployment status.

This negative socio-economic phenomenon is a serious problem in modern society. Thus, an increase in the number of people unemployed in production was observed during the crises of 1973-1975, 1979-1980, and 1982-1983.

The types and levels of unemployment depend on the country in question. For example, if we take data from 1985, then in Spain 20% of the population could not find a job, and in Japan - 2.6%. In the 90s, in European countries (France, England, Germany and Italy) the unemployment rate was 10-12%, in America - from 5 to 6, in Japan - from 2.3 to 3, and in Switzerland - only 1%. Such differences arise due to the differing government policies of countries in the field of macroeconomic regulation. Part of the discrepancy in unemployment rates is due to different definitions of the term.

What causes the problem of “extra” frames?

Unemployment, causes, types, consequences of this negative phenomenon are widely studied by economists. To date, researchers have ambiguously explained the appearance of “extra” personnel. Among the available reasons are:

1. Malthusianism, or excess population.
2. Marxism, that is, the growth of the organic structure of capital.
3. High level of remuneration.
4. Keynesianism, which lies in the lack of aggregate demand.

Neoclassical concept

According to economists who adhere to this theory, the number of workers employed in the production process is directly opposite to the level of remuneration they receive for their work. In other words, employment falls as wages rise. How, then, to eliminate the problem of unemployment? Reduce wages.

Keynesian concept

Economists who adhere to this theory consistently and thoroughly prove that in a market economy, unemployment is not voluntary, but forced. In their opinion, the neoclassical concept can only be confirmed within the sectoral, that is, microeconomic level.

The founder of the theory, Keynes, argued that the volume of employment is directly related to the efficiency of demand for goods. In addition, employment is largely dependent on investment. The growth of such investments invariably affects industries producing consumer goods, which leads to an increase in demand for labor resources.

Types of unemployment

Currently, a negative socio-economic phenomenon, characteristic of all countries, is subject to a certain classification. Main types of unemployment:
- friction;
- cyclic;
- structural.

Depending on the criteria and characteristics, this phenomenon can be obvious and hidden, long-term and natural, institutional, stagnant, seasonal, official and unofficial. The table below reflects the most common types of unemployment well.


Let us consider the types of this phenomenon in more detail.

Frictional unemployment

It occurs when a person resigns of his own free will, when the specialist intends to find a new, more suitable job for him. As a rule, this phenomenon is characterized by a short period of time. A specialist quickly finds a job and is no longer part of the army of people unnecessary for production.

This type of unemployment occurs when changing place of residence, receiving a new education, or while on parental leave. A decrease in the level of this phenomenon may indicate an improvement in the provision of necessary information to job seekers. However, economists argue that frictional unemployment is inevitable. In addition, to some extent it is even desirable, because this phenomenon means that specialists will receive higher incomes, which will allow the state to more rationally distribute labor resources and achieve an increase in the volume of the national product.

Structural unemployment

This phenomenon arises due to the search for the desired vacancy by those specialists who have narrow qualifications. At its core, structural unemployment, examples of which exist in our country, is forced. It arises as a result of transformations in one or another sphere of the national economy, as well as with the development of new, high-tech areas and the reduction of outdated industries.

What are the specific features of Russian structural unemployment? Examples of this phenomenon concern those who, having a secondary specialized or higher education, cannot find a suitable vacancy for themselves. And this happens while the demand for unskilled labor increases.

The inevitability of frictional and structural types of phenomena

The types of unemployment considered and examples of their occurrence give every reason to consider their presence in society to be natural. Such phenomena are considered normal for a dynamically developing state. In other words, such types and forms of unemployment as structural and frictional are classified as natural and irremovable. At the same time, they influence the creation of a long-term stable equilibrium in the labor market. The table below indicates these types of unemployment.

Essentially, both of these phenomena can be called which inevitably exist even with full employment of the population. Moreover, this phenomenon corresponds to potential GNP.

Cyclical unemployment

This negative phenomenon arises as a result of a decline in production in a period of economic development characterized by insufficient investment in the production sector. Cyclical unemployment reaches its peak level during periods of crisis. The minimum significance of this phenomenon is observed during times of production growth. Of course, there are various types and forms of unemployment, but cyclical unemployment is the most painful for the population. It leads to a fall in an individual’s income, and, consequently, to a decrease in his well-being. In addition, the presence of cyclical unemployment in a society indicates that production capacity is not being used to its full extent. And this implies a decrease in tax revenues to the treasury.

The reasons why cyclical fluctuations in employment occur lie in the state going through certain phases of economic development. For example, in Russia, a similar phenomenon arises due to the transition of the national economy to fundamentally new market conditions.

The need to count the unemployed population

Types of unemployment and examples of their manifestations can be very different. Thus, certain forms of this phenomenon are classified based on the need to register the unemployed, which will allow the state to take appropriate measures.

In this case, the following are distinguished:

1. Registered unemployment y, reflecting the number of unemployed people looking for vacancies and registered with employment services opened by the state.
2. Hidden unemployment. The category of such labor resources includes citizens who are employed in the production sector, but are “superfluous” there. They are sent to or offered to work part-time.

Duration of the vacancy search period

Types of unemployment and examples of its manifestation are different depending on the time of existence of this phenomenon. So, such a negative phenomenon happens:
- short-term, when a person cannot find a job within 8 months;
- long-term (from 8 to 18 months);
- stagnant (over 18 months).

Long-term and stagnant types of unemployment pose a particular danger to the population. And examples of this can be taken from everyday life. A specialist who has not worked for a long time loses his professional level and ability to work intensively. In addition, this condition often becomes the cause of social degradation of the individual, which leads him to a group of drunkards or homeless people. It is possible to return such people to professional activity only through long-term individual rehabilitation work.

The second type of unemployment is structural unemployment. Structural unemployment arises in connection with technological shifts in the structure of aggregate demand or aggregate supply, when the structure of demand for labor itself changes. People who for many years were considered professionals in one field or another suddenly find themselves unnecessary, because production requires new qualifications and new specialties. This was the case with steam locomotive drivers when the railways switched to electric and diesel locomotives.

Another type of unemployment - structural unemployment - is associated with structural shifts in aggregate demand and aggregate supply. These shifts are associated with changes in production technology and are accompanied by changes in demand for labor employed in certain professions. Structural unemployment is very persistent and extremely painful, since workers affected by it often have to change not only their profession, but also their lifestyle.

Thanks to the inconvertibility of its currency, China survived the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998, but it must restructure its economy. The privatization of an extremely inefficient and burdensome public sector for the country alone threatens to immediately increase unemployment to almost 100 million people. There is also an urgent need to equalize the disproportions in the development of coastal areas, which have received investment rain thanks to the status of free economic zones, and the inland areas of the country, where even government investment reaches extremely sparingly. So, at best, the colossus has only just gotten back to its feet. It will take decades more to straighten our shoulders.

Experience shows that deflationary measures do not always achieve their goals, especially if imbalances in the balance of payments and other economic difficulties are persistent, structural in nature and accompanied by a decline in production. At the same time, under certain circumstances, such measures contribute to curtailing investments, slowing down economic growth, and exacerbating social problems. This is due to a decrease in real wages and living standards, rising unemployment, redistribution of income in favor of the rich at the expense of less affluent groups of the population, and growing property differentiation. Thus, the problem of conditionality of IMF loans is the social price for the implementation of stabilization macroeconomic programs with its assistance and tutelage.

In connection with the creation of a single market space, the resources of long-existing structural funds - regional, social and agricultural - have been doubled in order to adapt the poorest regions to the conditions of opening national markets. For backward economic regions and non-competitive enterprises, tougher market competition means a wave of bankruptcy, ruin, and increased unemployment. There are about 40 disadvantaged areas in the EU (the entire territory of Greece, Ireland, Portugal, most of Spain, southern Italy, the islands of Sardinia and Sicily, Northern Ireland, some departments of France). The standard of living in the 25 poorest areas of the EU is 2.5 times lower than in the 25 most prosperous. Of the listed structural funds, allocations for the creation of new jobs and retraining of the unemployed have been increased; 1/4 of the resources of the EU single budget are now spent on infrastructure development for these purposes. In addition, a new budget fund was created - the Cohesion Fund (1993) to provide financial support to the least developed EU countries. Thus, the function of the EU budget to redistribute the national income of more developed countries and regions in favor of less developed ones (Ireland, Portugal, Greece) has been activated. However, the main costs of adaptation to open market conditions are borne by these countries and regions themselves, and assistance from centralized EU funds plays only a supporting role.

Receiving income from import customs tariffs, the state has the financial capacity to structurally restructure the economy. If, as a result of competition with imported goods, certain industries cease to exist, then much more funds will be required to organize new production and fight unemployment. To obtain the necessary funds, the state will have to either introduce additional taxes or resort to government loans.

Structural unemployment, when, in the presence of unemployed persons, enterprises have unstaffed jobs due to professional qualifications and geographical mismatch between the unemployed and vacancies. In a market economy, it always exists and requires retraining of personnel, improving their qualifications, and changing the structure of graduating specialists.

The level of admissibility of unemployment is determined by a combination of socio-economic and political factors, the need to maintain the volume of gross domestic product and contributions to various budgetary and extra-budgetary funds from the income of workers, including the fund for supporting the unemployed, the interests of maintaining political stability, etc. However, there is no only an acceptable upper limit on the scale of unemployment, but also a minimum acceptable level, which is dictated by the interests of structural regrouping of the labor force, often associated with temporary unemployment, and the need to release excess labor in enterprises. However, one should not artificially restrain the release of workers from unpromising industries and enterprises, without at the same time allowing a landslide release, but by fully implementing the concept of reorganizing enterprises.

DEPRESSIVE REGIONS are territories that have sufficient economic potential, but which, as a result of a structural crisis, are affected by a steady decline in production, real incomes of the population and rising unemployment.

Second, technological changes in production cause structural changes in labor demand. The new structure of jobs does not correspond to the existing structure of the labor force, which causes the displacement of some workers from production, who form structural unemployment.

Unemployment benefits occupy a special place among social insurance benefits. In a market economy, unemployment is associated mainly with structural changes in the national economy, modernization of production, redistribution of labor, and the transition to new business methods. Unemployment benefits are paid from social insurance funds and extra-budgetary employment promotion funds. The main purpose of this benefit is to prevent a sharp drop in the income of workers who find themselves temporarily unemployed in public production. The amount of the benefit is set as a percentage of wages, amounting to at least half of its value.

As a result, in the 70s, a second approach to determining full employment and unemployment emerged. Now it has become obvious that the goal of ensuring absolutely full employment is unattainable. On the contrary, two types of unemployment are recognized as inevitable: structural and frictional. Under the friction lat. fri tio - friction) refers to unemployment associated with temporary difficulties in employment - waiting for work by people who are seeking to change jobs or professions. These apparently include those who voluntarily leave their previous place of work and look for another, who temporarily lose seasonal work, or young people choosing a place where they can earn more. To a large extent, frictional unemployment coincides with structural unemployment. Those in this state need time to find suitable vacancies, acquire qualifications or change their place of residence.

Since the 70s, Western economists have recognized the inevitability of two types of unemployment - structural and frictional. Frictional (lat. fri tio - friction) refers to unemployment associated with temporary difficulties in employment - waiting for work by people who are seeking to change jobs or professions. These apparently include those who voluntarily leave their previous place of work and look for another, who temporarily lose seasonal work, or young people choosing a place where they can earn more. Those in this situation need time to find suitable vacancies, acquire qualifications or move to another location.

Macroeconomic parameters - the rate of economic growth, the level of inflation and unemployment, structural changes (the development of one sector of the national economy due to the reduction of another) - have a strong impact on both the company's strategy (the need for human resources) and the situation on the labor market (the supply of human resources). resources). For example, sustainable economic growth, as a rule, leads to an increase in effective demand in the economy and, therefore, provides the company with opportunities to increase sales volumes. At the same time, there is an increase in the demand for labor and, accordingly, wages. In economically developed countries, there are detailed forecasts of the evolution of various macroeconomic parameters, therefore the task of the department is to increase the money supply, and also raised the question of the relationship between macro and micro approaches in relation to this problem and tried to give a microeconomic interpretation of the transmission mechanism. In addition, he proposed to distinguish the structural and frictional components of the natural level of unemployment. Laidler came to the following conclusions.

The costs of unemployment are distributed unevenly in society. Although the moral costs of unemployment can be very severe for the unemployed and their families, it is difficult to measure these costs with any precision. So economists have tried to approach the measurement of costs from the other side, in terms of the decline in output associated with aggregate unemployment. To do this, it is necessary to distinguish between two types of unemployment: structural, which occurs in an economy with a level of natural unemployment, and cyclical, which exceeds the natural level. The costs of these types of unemployment are not the same. It is clear that not all cases of unemployment are a waste of resources. Part of structural unemployment is related to the search for work; for example, it makes it easier to establish an effective relationship between the number of people looking for work and the number of jobs available.

Unemployment in Japan is not yet such a terrible scourge of society as in the USA and Great Britain. The number of completely unemployed people in the Japanese Islands remains, according to official statistics, at around 2 million people (about 3% of the labor force). But in 1990, according to the business body Japan Economic Journal, this figure will reach 5 million (8%). This prospect worries Japanese workers. She is especially worried about workers who have lost their jobs due to structural restructuring. economy after the oil crises of the 70s. Those who have lost their jobs are now people

In the process of active economic reform, which began in the Russian Federation in 1992, many strategic and tactical mistakes were made, which resulted in negative results in the economic and social sphere of the economy in transition. As is known, the genesis of the science of finance goes back several centuries and researchers date its beginning to the 16th-16th centuries. Without being an exception, financial science, like all others, is born from the needs of practice, i.e. then, when the previously unstudied side of reality becomes stable and significant for the life of a given system. Therefore, it is quite natural that financial practice is thousands of years older than financial science.

The Euro was intended to be the leading currency for establishing US-style exchange rates. Like the US dollar, the euro has strong international support provided by member countries of the European Monetary Union. This currency is however subject to the negative impact of the uneven development of these countries, high levels of unemployment in some of them and the reluctance of some governments to implement structural reforms. In 1999 and 2000, the euro/dollar exchange rate also changed due to the outflow of foreign investors, in particular Japanese ones, who were forced to liquidate unprofitable deposits in euro accounts. In addition, European financiers have revised their portfolios towards reducing the influence of the euro component due to a decreased desire to minimize risk in foreign exchange transactions based on the European currency.

See pages where the term is mentioned Unemployment is structural

:                      Course in Economic Theory Vol.5 (2006) -- [

“Structural unemployment” (SI) is an economic term closely related to the decline in consumer interest in a certain product group, as well as technological progress. The growth of consumer interest in a certain product group leads to the need to increase production capacity and attract more workers to work. This factor helps reduce unemployment in this market segment. But at the same time, there is a decrease in demand for other categories of goods, which is the reason for the increase in the number of people not involved in the work process.

The group under consideration includes laid-off workers who have a high level of qualifications that do not meet the requirements of modern production. Also included in the category of structural unemployment are representatives of those professions that have low demand in the labor market. In this article, we propose to consider what structural unemployment is and talk about the reasons for its occurrence.

In assessing the state of the economy of any country, an important indicator is the employment of the working-age population

Briefly about terminology

In order to define the term “structural unemployment”, it is necessary to become familiar with the basic terminology used in the field of economics. Only a comprehensive study of the issue under consideration will allow us to draw a conclusion about the reasons for its occurrence. So, let's get acquainted with the main terms that are closely related to the concept under consideration. “Able-bodied citizens” are the entire population of a particular country of adult age.

Unemployment is an economic phenomenon in which a certain category of citizens cannot take part in the process of providing services or creating marketable products.

The term “unemployed” is used to define able-bodied citizens who are not involved in the process of providing services and creating marketable products. Based on the above, we can conclude that unemployment is expressed by a phenomenon in which citizens of a country want to participate in the work process, but for various reasons they face difficulties in finding a suitable job. It is important to note that this category does not include persons who are in poor health or who refuse to work for personal reasons.

There are four main types of unemployment:

  • seasonal;
  • cyclic;
  • structural;
  • frictional

According to experts who assess the economic state of each region, the last two concepts are of particular importance in this list. In order to develop a method for combating SR, it is necessary to carefully study the causes of its occurrence.

Causes

According to economic experts, the causes of structural unemployment are closely related to the development of a certain market segment. In addition, special attention is paid to the height of consumer demand for various product groups. The height of consumer demand is a dynamic value, which is characterized by sharp rises and rapid declines. A decrease in the interest of the target audience in a certain product group becomes the reason for the need to reduce the production capacity that is used to produce these products. In such a situation, employers are faced with the need to carry out staff reduction procedures, which contributes to an increase in the number of unemployed.


Structural unemployment is formed in cases where technological adjustments (for example, modernization) are made to the process of creating goods and services

Also, this phenomenon arises as a result of changes in a certain manufacturing industry. Technological progress is causing the population's demand for certain goods to gradually decline to zero. This factor contributes to the closure of many companies and enterprises. An example would be a product such as a black and white TV. The advent of computers, laptops, smartphones and LCD monitors made black and white TV an irrelevant and unclaimed product. All of the above has an impact on the state of the economy and the demand for representatives of certain professions.

Today, blacksmiths and glassblowers are in extremely low demand. Such professions as lamplighter and coachman have completely disappeared. They were replaced by more in-demand areas - designers, managers, PR specialists and programmers.

Difference between labor force and number of jobs

Structural unemployment is a parameter that determines the difference between the number of jobs and the number of representatives of certain professions. In simple terms, this criterion reflects the number of people who can be fired, despite having certain professional skills and a high level of qualifications. The reason for the low demand for such workers is the lack of compliance with modern requirements of the manufacturing industry.

The category under consideration unites citizens who have lost their jobs due to changes in the size of demand for certain product groups. With the development of the manufacturing industry, products produced by various factories are becoming very popular among consumers. This factor contributes to the need to increase production capacity, which requires the involvement of additional specialists in the work process. A decrease in consumer demand leads to a drop in sales.

In order to normalize the financial condition of his company, the employer needs to fire employees who are not involved in the production process. In order to determine the structural unemployment index, analysts need to determine the total number of structural unemployed and the total number of working-age citizens. SR level is a dynamic value expressed as a percentage.


A striking example of structural unemployment: a worker fired from one industry cannot find a job in his specialty or move to work in another industry