Macroeconomics Of Unemployment

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Unemployment is a macroeconomic factor that is pertinent to an extensive economy at a regional level. Therefore it affects a large population rather than a few select individuals. Unemployment does not only have social costs, but economic costs too. The ILO, International Labour organization, defines unemployment as, ''People of working age, who are without work, but available for work and actively seeking employment.'' Therefore implying that it is a state of an individual looking for a job but not having one. Unemployment is one of the key indicators in determining the economic stability of a country; hence governments, businesses and consumers closely monitor it. There are numerous aspects that might lead to unemployment such as labour market conflicts and recessions in the economy. There are two main types of unemployment, which can be focused on, seasonal and cyclical unemployment. Seasonal unemployment occurs when a person is unemployed or their profession is not in demand during a particular season. On the contrary, cyclical unemployment occurs when there is less demand for goods and services in the market so consequently supply needs to be decreased. There are a multitudinous number of both economic and social difficulties associated with unemployment. One fundamental reason why the government particularly stresses on reducing unemployment levels is as a result it poses a great cost on the economy. Not only does it affect the economy, but also it poses a great threat towards the living standards of the unemployed people itself. This could lead to many receiving less or no income based on whether or not they receive unemployment welfare benefits from the government. Reduction in income, would lead to a less disposable inc... ... middle of paper ... ...roblem for governments. Social costs such as increase in criminal activities, depression, suicide, criminal activities lead to other economic costs such as fall in consumption levels and the country’s economic growth slows down. Also, large- scale migration in certain areas of a country might pose a threat to its inhabitants, though it might prove to be beneficial for firms in the long run as they will be able to hire more efficient and competitive workers. However, there can't be zero unemployment in any economy because once an economy reaches full capacity, workers will have to be laid off due to several reasons, such as poor resource allocation, jeopardizing of demand and supply cycle, etc. Therefore it is essential to have a small amount of unemployment in an economy, though higher rates of unemployment will prove to be a threat to society and economy.

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