Employment and Unemployment

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering the definitions, measurements, patterns, and types of employment and unemployment based on the lecture material.

Employment

The use of factors of production in the economy, specifically referring to the economic use of labour.

Unemployment

A situation that occurs when people of working age are both willing and able to work but cannot find employment.

Brain Drain

A phenomenon that can occur during periods of high unemployment where highly skilled workers leave the country in search of job opportunities elsewhere.

International Labour Organization (ILO) Working Age Limit

The lower age limit for the working population which is set at $15\,\text{years old}$.

Full Employment

The ideal situation when everyone in a country who is willing and able to work has a job.

Primary Sector Trend

As a country develops, the number of people employed in this sector tends to fall.

Tertiary Sector Trend

As a country develops, the majority of workers tend to be employed in this sector.

Formal Sector Employment

Officially recorded employment where workers pay income taxes and contribute to the country's official GDP.

Female Participation Rate

The measure of the proportion of women who are active in the labour force, which tends to rise as an economy develops.

Ageing Population

A rise in the average age of a population caused by lower birth rates and longer life spans in developed economies.

Flexible Working Patterns

Work arrangements used by firms to compete internationally, including part-time staff, working from home, flexible hours, and outsourcing non-core functions.

Claimant Count

A measure of unemployment that counts the number of people who are out of work and actively seeking employment while claiming unemployment benefits.

Labour Force Survey (LFS)

An alternative measure of unemployment produced by the ILO using a standardised household-based survey to collect work-related statistics.

ILO Unemployment Criteria

Individuals are counted as unemployed if they are willing to work, have actively looked for a job in the last $4\,\text{weeks}$, and are able to start work within the next $2\,\text{weeks}$.

Unemployment Rate Formula

$$\frac{\text{Number of unemployed}}{\text{Workforce}} \times 100$$

Workforce Calculation (Alternative)

$$\text{Number of unemployed} + \text{employed} + \text{self employed}$$

Frictional Unemployment

Transitional unemployment which occurs when people change jobs or are in-between jobs due to time delays in the labour market.

Structural Unemployment

Long-term unemployment occurring when demand for products in a specific industry continually falls, often due to foreign competition, requiring workers to retrain.

Cyclical Unemployment

Also known as demand-deficient unemployment, this is a severe type of unemployment caused by a lack of demand resulting in a fall in national income ($Y_1$ to $Y_2$).