Essay on Analysing the Recent Economic Recession and Its Effects

The U-3 is the best known, and the most commonly used unemployment statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It calculates the U.S. unemployment rate by taking the total number of unemployed persons and dividing that figure by the total number of persons in the civilian labor force. The civilian labor force is composed of all persons above the age of sixteen, who are not serving in the military, who have employment (or who are actively seeking employment). What the BLS leaves out in the U-3 is the body of people whom they call discouraged workers. They are those who used to be included in the civilian labor force, but lost their jobs and ceased their search for new employment. The federal government’s calculation that includes our nation’s discouraged workers in the unemployment rate forms what is called the U-6. Also calculated in the U-6 are people who are working at part-time jobs but desire full-time work. Using both the U-6 and the U-3 is a far more substantial means of acknowledging our true unemployment rate.

George Santayana, a Spanish poet and philosopher said, "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." This quote applies to the Great Depression of 1929 and the Great Recession of 2008. There are many similarities between the two, like the causes, the actual events, and the aftermaths. Several factors led to the Great Depression, which were the following: overproduction by business and agriculture, unequal distribution of wealth, Americans buying less, and finally, the stock market crash of 1929. The Great Recession also had similar factors leading to it, like the housing “bubble” burst and less consumer spending. In both events, the Presidents enacted programs that they believed would help the American people.

There are many different age brackets, genders, and ethnicity that make up unemployment in the labor force. Some of the same people who were once in the labor force also make up the workers who are not counted in the labor force anymore. Unemployment is important to the economy and the society that we live in because the more people without any jobs and/or not having a legitimate source of income will increase crime, poverty, political unsteadiness, downgrade health standards, and mental health problems. Unemployment can also cause underemployment which is not good for the economy. Underemployment, in one of its usage, is defined as the employment of

Ever since the Recession of 2008, the process of acquiring employment has become extremely challenging and exhausting. After months of searching, a significant amount of job seekers are willing to accept any job offers that will allow them to put food on the tables. If you follow the United States’ economic recovery, you probably know that there are about 10.5 million unemployed Americans and constant debates about how to create more jobs. What you may not know is that there are actually four million open jobs waiting to be filled. So how is it possible and who is there to blame?

The economic recession of the late 2000s has been called the greatest economic downturn our country has faced since the Great Depression. American businesses and banks are failing, foreclosures are spreading like wildfire, and unemployment numbers have reached double digits. Under our current president, many are optimistic, but many others are fearful for the future. Economists have different speculations regarding the causes of the “Great Recession”. Some blame it on higher prices for necessities like oil. Others blame the recession on the burst of the real-estate bubble, inflation, and lacking government regulations on big businesses. Economic experts are also debating on possible solution to end the recession. It is evident that the

In the most basic terms, business cycles refer to fluctuations in the economic growth of a nation's economy. Sometimes, business cycles are simply referred to as ups and downs in the economy. The U.S. economy has experienced economic fluctuations throughout its history. For example,

The unemployment rate measures the rate at which the economy is operating at full capacity. It also has its roots embedded in the great depression when the rate reached about 25% (rbcpa.com). The unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of unemployed workers in the entire labor force (Bodie, et al, 2011). When people are unemployed the economy loses their contribution in terms of goods and services. The increase in the percentage of unemployed indicates the extent of economic hardship faced by the nation, therefore it is important for policymakers to know the number of unemployed workers in an economy in order to make better decisions in regards to the growth of the economy.

The unemployment rate in the United States of America is a topic that is often scrutinized and discussed among economists, politicians and fellow citizens. Frequently newscasters are advertising monthly unemployment rate, and I ask myself this question: Is the rate being published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) actually the true figure, or is the real number being misrepresented? In effort to answer this question, one has to understand the breakdown of the U.S. population as it relates to the actual labor force. One also has to comprehend who the government considers to be unemployed. I will be analyzing the current statistical numbers provided by the BLS, as well providing a detailed analysis of the government’s perspective as to what is deemed to be employed and unemployed.

Institutions have been affected by the recession. These institutions sort new opportunities for making profit and sustaining their activities. One type of institution that has been greatly affected is the university institutions. These institutions have been affected, as a result, of cutbacks in terms of funding by the state government attributed to the recession that caused economic turmoil in the country. These cutbacks by the government affects universities countrywide resulting to them reducing their own spending and finding alternatives that would help sustain them. Nobody State University is one such university that has been struggling to increase its revenue (Malcolm & McMinn, 2013).

A study done by the Congressional Research Service survey the long term unemployed and found several findings about their characteristics. For instance, the long-term unemployed are more often male than female. Men were also more likely than women to be out of work for two years or more. Unemployed workers were more likely to be younger than older. However, older workers were more likely than younger workers to have been out of work for two years or more. A large share of unemployed workers had never been married. But, among unemployed workers, married workers were more likely than workers who had never been married to have been unemployed for two years or more. In terms of education, the majority of unemployed workers had a high school education or less. But, unemployed workers with a high school degree only or with a bachelor’s degree or better were equally likely to have been looking for work for two years or more (Mayer, Gerald).

1. In the US, with a population of 320 million and a working wealth creating population of around 120 million, with 47 million on food stamps (an estimated increase of 27% since 2008), the unofficial estimated unemployment figure is 23 - 26%. The variation lies between including people as unemployed and ignoring those, 'not in the

The unemployment rate is the percentage of people in the labour force who are without jobs and are actively seeking jobs.

According to Amadeo (2016), it talks about varies things dealing with unemployment. Unemployment is defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as people who do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the past four weeks, and are currently available for work. It talks about how people leave the labor force when they retire, go to school, have a disability that keeps them from working, or have family responsibilities. It states that the BLS does not report the real unemployment rate. BLS measures unemployment through monthly household surveys which is called current population survey. It also talks about how unemployment statistics used. They are used by the government to gauge the health of the economy. If the rate gets high around six percent, the government will try to stimulate the economy and create jobs. The causes of unemployment are caused by economy slowing down and businesses forced to reducing payroll expenses. The consequences of unemployment are destructive to the economy.

Higher rates of unemployment indicate that the nation is not using all the talents and skills of its people in order to improve productivity. However, the data collected is subjected to criticism. One of the reasons is that the BLS’s surveys count part time jobs as full time employments. Also, discouraged workers, people who left the labor forces because they were unable to find work, are not counted as unemployed. Therefore, critics say that the data collected understates the unemployment rate.

This investigation is regarding an extremely important subject that doesn’t only affect America but also many countries around the world. I believe the global economy is going through a very difficult period. Today we can see many countries with big debts, some even going bankrupt, countries like Greece and Ukraine in Europe, to Pakistan in Asia, to Ecuador, Venezuela, Argentina and Belize in the Central and South America (M. Hess). I was very intrigued and wanted to find out more on why unemployment rates vary among countries; therefore, I decide to do my research on unemployment rates. If the economy is in such a bad state, there must be a connection, something that is causing unemployment rates to be higher in some countries and lower in others.