Current Economic Analysis Essay

Unemployment Issues in the United States Unemployment is one top issue that our government faces on a daily basis. Many people are being unemployed as we speak. Even though the government is trying to take a lead on this major issue, the rate of unemployment is just too high. Why I feel strongly about this issue is because many of us continue to search for jobs daily and still no reply. There are many reasons behind being unemployed and those reasons are little issues that the governor himself can fix within a year or so. We are still jobless, the minimum wage is too low and most of the jobs that pay well always ask if one Spanish.

The Business Cycle is “…the "ups and downs" in economic activity, defined in terms of periods of expansion or recession” (Dr. Econ). Expansion is the period in which employment, production, sales and income increase. Likewise, the contrasting contraction is when the actions above decrease. In order to keep track of the fluctuations of the US’s business cycles troughs and peaks, the National Bureau of Economic Research was created. The NBER is comprised of a group of economic researchers currently led by president James Poterba. The members are usually specialized in the field of business-cycle research, and are chosen by the president. The NBER was founded in 1920 as a private non-profit “…non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, and business professionals.” (http://www.nber.org/info.html). The NBER dating committee was formed in 1978, and plays an important role in the US as an examiner of broad measures of economic activity, and the most reliable source of the beginning and end of recessions in the U.S. This is accomplished by gathering as much data on a given period of economic activity.

Before one can understand the various components of unemployment it should first be understood what exactly unemployment is. Unemployment is defined as people who are currently not employed, available for work and tried to find a job within the last 4 weeks. (Makiw 299). This means that not all people without a job are necessarily considered unemployed. Workers without a job who are no longer searching for a job fall into the category of discouraged workers. This group of individuals is not included in the figure for finding the unemployment of a

There are times when a nation undergoes economic hardship for a long or short period of time. The recession is the term used by economists to define this period, it is a time when the nation?s economic GDP is low for more than two quarters consecutively (Beckworth, 2012). Recession often results in plunges in the stock market, unemployment, housing market, and a decrease in the quality of life of the citizens. The United States experienced a recession from December 2007 to June 2009 (Braude, 2013). It was the country?s greatest economic downfall for last 60 years earning the name ?The Great Recession?. During this period there

On the outstanding work “unemployment and job creation programs: is there a skills gap?” by Belinda Shipps and Robert L. Howard four types of unemployment are identified: Frictional, seasonal, structural, and cyclical. Frictional

Unemployment is divided into three types which are frictional unemployment, structural unemployment and cyclical unemployment. Firstly, frictional unemployment is the portion of unemployment due to the normal working of labor market, such as skill matching problems. Secondly, structural unemployment is the portion of unemployment that is due to changes in structure of economy likes technological advances will cause higher unemployment. Last, cyclical unemployment will only occurs during the period of recessions and depressions.

One of the most widely recognized indicators of a recession is higher unemployment rates. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, “In December 2007, the national unemployment rate was 5.0 percent, and it had been at or below that rate for the previous 30 months. At the end of the recession, in June 2009, it was 9.5 percent”. Of course unemployment is based on many factors which include those who are without jobs and are actively seeking jobs, but does not include those who are discouraged workers. Many other factors also contribute to who is termed as unemployed civilians. A recession is a downturn in the business cycle during which real GDP declines, business profits fall, the percentage of the workforce without jobs rises, and capacity of production is underutilized. The employment decline experienced between the 2007 and 2009 recession was greater than that of any recession of recent decades. The construction and manufacturing industries seen the largest percentage of declines in employment between 2007 and 2009. During the recent recession financial institutions experienced a 3.9-percent reduction in employment as well. This is very uncommon and has not been seen since the 1990s. Prior to that was 1939.

The term business cycle or economic cycle refers to the fluctuations of economic activity around its long-term growth trend. It involves shifts over time between periods of relatively rapid growth of output-recovery and prosperity, and periods of relative stagnation or decline- contraction or recession. These fluctuations are often measured using real gdp.

There are a few different types of unemployment, such as the structural, frictional and cyclical unemployment. Structural unemployment is commonly a result of change in technology, the constant improvement and introduction of new devices in the business world. If we look at the farming industry, making use of human labor to work in the fields in the past but now because of technology most farmers make use of machines. This means that the only people who are really needed are the semi-skilled laborers who are able to operate machines. Frictional unemployment is common in all economies. It entails individuals having to look for work that fits the specific skills they have. This process requires time and energy since the person looking for a job has to find an employer

The economic cycle is the natural fluctuation of the economy between periods of expansion and contraction. Factors such as gross domestic product (GDP), interest rates, levels of employment and consumer spending can help to determine the current stage of the economic cycle. The economic cycle affects Next as if the economy is in a recession stage then consumers will have less disposable income. It also affects Next positivity for example if the economy is in the boom stage then sales are likely to increase due to a rise in consumer spending because the public have more disposable income. Below is a diagram of the economic cycle.

Business cycles contain several stages which span GDP and time itself. These stages are growth, peak, recession and a trough or depression. These cycles repeat themselves over and over through out time in the business world. The growth and peak stage of a business cycle are when companies are building and providing great products and services. This is also the period when jobs are most abundant and harder to fill because job positions are in demand. After the peak stage a risky point in time follows which is the recession stage. During this time people tend to loose their jobs and it is a much harder time to find a job as well. The depression stage is depressing to both companies and people because many consumers lose their jobs and can

The economic cycle is a fundamental economic understanding of the phases that an economy may experience during certain climates. This can be understood by the basic economic cycle diagram, which shows the different periods combined with a line representing trend growth. Governments ideally wish for uniform growth, close to or on the trend line, this is where the economy is continually expanding and growing at a rate which the government perceives to be sustainable. For example, the UK aim for 2.5% trend growth, however due to the economic cycle we can understand that it rarely stays at one point for a long period of time. When the actual growth line is above trend rate, this is known as a positive output gap and when the actual growth line

The business cycle is the oscillation in financial action that an economy encounters over a timeframe. A business cycle is essentially characterized in terms of periods of development or subsidence. Amid expansions, the economy is developing in genuine terms, as prove by increments in indicators like business, industrial production, sales and individual earnings. Amid recessions, the economy is contracting, as measured by abatements in the above indicators. Development is measured from the trough (or base) of the past business cycle to the pinnacle of the present cycle, while recession is measured from the top to the trough. (n.g., What is the 'Business Cycle ', n.g.)

Timing of the business cycle is not predictable, but its phases seem to be. Many economists site four phases—prosperity, liquidation, depression, and recovery. During a period of prosperity, a rise in production leads to increases in employment, wages, and profits. Obstacles then begin to obstruct further expansion. Production costs can increase, helping create a rise in prices, and

During periods of recession an economy for the most part encounters a moderately high unemployment rate. The downturn in the US economy and worldwide economies amid 2007, 2008 and 2009 influenced Australian trades, financial development and anticipated unemployment levels. The reasons, outcomes, and arrangements fluctuate in view of the particular kind of unemployment that is available inside of a nation. There are three essential classes of unemployment that are commonly examined. They are structural, frictional and cyclical unemployment (2). There are other types of