Unemployment Rate Macroeconomics

The unemployment rate measures the percentage of the total work force that is unemployed and actively seeking employment during the previous month. Unemployment is termed as a major health of the economy and every country tries to reduce unemployment rate for sustainable growth. It is referred as the number of unemployed workers divided by the total civilian labour force. Every economy tries to ensure full employment in the country but there is the existence of natural rate of unemployment though nation tries hard to obtain full employment in the country.

In any economy, no matter whether it is controlled by the government or by free markets, people need to work in order to support it. The government does not generate tax revenue by magic. There have to be people in that economy earning an income to ensure that the government continues to collect taxes. In a free market economy, the same applies because there are some services which only an organized government can supply (such as protection from extra-national threats), but there also those which the people get for themselves because of the working of the markets. In any scenario, unemployment is, at the very least, a drag on the economy, and it can be much worse. This paper examines how the unemployment rate in the United States is underreported, and how that fact effects the sluggishness of the present economy.

As of March, 2013 the U.S. National Unemployment rate was 7.6%. A total of 11.7 million people were reported as unemployed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This rate is improved from the height of the recent recession, where the statistic floated around 9%, but it is still not the usual 3-4% figure we are used to seeing in regular market conditions. (bls.gov, US, 2013)

Unemployment rate, one of the biggest macroeconomic indicators. Unemployment rate controls the rate of the economy, or GDP. If unemployment rate drops from 9.1% to under 5%, the entire economy would benefit. The job market would increase, total products produced would increase, and the overall standard of living would also increase. Employment is a key economic factor that affects all things economic.

Since the early 2000’s the unemployment rates of the United States have been constantly changing. For most of this time unemployment rates were increasing at a quick pace as the country was dealing with internal financial issues of its own. When people are out of work the rates of depression and crime seem to skyrocket. This is due to the lack of funds coming into a home which result in some less than admirable acts being committed. There are many causes of unemployment and many effects that unemployment can have on not only our economy, but our personal lives as well.

One of the downfalls resulting from the Great Recession is the unemployment rate. Approximately 14 million Americans remained unemployed and about half of them were unemployed for over six months. Of that 14 million, 11.3 million of them were barely working, and if they were employed it was mainly part time jobs. Some felt that it would take over a decade to get unemployment rates back to 5%. With unemployment rates raising it also can affect the education of our nation and the future of our nation. The children's education is affected because a lot of them are switching schools and districts due to their unstable conditions at home. More and more parents are out of jobs which makes it hard for them to support their children financially in

While there are expectations of a yearly gain of nearly 2.3 million net new jobs, the unemployment rate is still very high i.e. around 6.5 percent. The lower-than-expected job growth is fueled by various factors including government hiring, weather, and Obamacare. Actually, similar to December, January had a lower-than expected increase in job opportunities since only 113,000 jobs were created. However, the rate of unemployment still reduced to 6.6 percent in this month despite of the growth in labor force. The current rate of unemployment is the lowest in U.S. since the 2008 recession because more people are leaving the labor force instead of finding jobs.

In 2012 the unemployment rate was at a high rate of 8.1%, according to Marilyn Geewax on the website The Two Way. Geewax also claims, the unemployment rate in 2016 lessened to 4.9%. Jobs around America are always changing depending on the economy.¨The Broken Basic Bargain¨ focuses on how the economy has both its highs and its lows just like jobs do in ¨Mike Rowe: Learning From Dirty Jobs¨.

As of February of 2016, “the unemployment rate in America was recorded at 4.9 percent, unchanged from the January rate and remaining at its lowest

Moreover, the current level is well above the 5 percent rate that economists consider closer to full employment. At the current rate of job creation, unemployment would fall to 6.4 percent by the end of 2014, and still be around 5.7 percent in late 2015.

The latest FOMC statement indicates that the economy is expanding at a constant pace, with increases in employment alongside GDP growth. The US economy expanded more than expected in the third quarter of 2014, with real GDP increased 3.9 percent, surpassing the forecasted 3.5 percent, despite slowing down from a 4.6 percent increase in the previous quarter. The increase in real GDP was contributed by higher than expected increases in consumption, investment, government spending, and net exports ("News Release: Gross Domestic Product"). Unemployment has continued to decrease for the third consecutive month in October, with a drop from 5.9 percent to 5.8 percent, the lowest in the past 6 years since its 10 percent peak in 2009 ("Employment Situation Summary"). However, the rate is still below 4.7 percent before the recession. According to the National association for Business Economics, Real GDP is forecasted to expand further, and the unemployment rate is expected to fall to 5.4 percent by the end of 2015 ("NABE - NABE Outlook December

According to the chart below leading up to the 2008 crisis the unemployment rate hovered right around four to six percent. This percentage is right around where we are hovering today. After analyzing the aforementioned FRED Civilian Unemployment Rate chart1 the leap in unemployment rate can be pinpointed to 2008 after the housing bubble popped. The jump was quite substantial beginning in February of 2008 at 4.9 percent and peaking in October of 2009 at 10 percent. This steep jump was caused by the companies going into debt due to the recession and having to cut expenses by laying off workers. What does the Troubled Assets Relief Program have to do with this? While at first sight in the eyes of the public TARP was extremely disliked as the public

Many people know that the U.S job market has always been inconsistent, and has it’s good years and bad years. Many may ask how is it even possible for an abundance of Americans to be unemployed, when a great amount of them followed the American Dream and worked hard in school and earned their degree, and some even risked being in debt so they could follow the American Dream and get their college degree. Unemployment always rises during recessions and usually, but not always falls during periods of economic expansion. For those who may not know the definition of recessions and expansions, as Dr. Econ stated “A recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in

The unemployment rate in the United States has improved dramatically over the last two years, from a high of 8.3% in July 2012, to a low of 6.6% in January 2014. In October of 2012, the civilian labor force increased from 578,000 to 155.6 million, labor force participation increased up to 63.8%, and total employment overall rose by 410,000! Since then, the unemployment rate has been falling at a stable rate due to a political push from Washington DC and new employment initiatives. The inflation rate over the last 2 years has been relatively stably, with a few major increases and decreases in 2012 and 2013. It reached a high of 2.3% in June of 2012, and reached a low of 1.0% at the end of 2013. The federal interest rate has remained at a constant .25% over the past few years.

Money is essential to any individual looking to have a decent lifestyle; labor is the avenue through which this is acquired. The economy goes through various fluctuations in activity causing unemployment to fall, rise, or level out. What this creates is the first type of unemployment, known as cyclical; frictional is the second type, caused by a temporary leave (for whatever reason) by the employee, and structural is the third type, varying with the economic changes in demand. The absence of unemployment at its maximum level is termed full employment, another version of unemployment. The term encompassing the sum of the frictional, structural, and, yet another type of unemployment, surplus unemployment is that of the natural rate of