Question

Kevin recently lost his job as a dishwasher. Minimum-wage legislation keeps employers from adding more of the low-skill positions for which he qualifies, so he has been unable to find work. Maria just graduated from college and is looking for a full-time position with an investment banking firm. Simone is a real estate agent. House sales in her area have declined because the region has been going through a recession. She has no clients and is currently looking for a new full-time job.

Answer 1

Kevin recently lost his job as a dishwasher. Minimum-wage legislation keeps employers from adding more of the low-skill positions for which he qualifies, so he has been unable to find work.

• STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT: results from a mismatch between the individual's abilities and those required by the market, or in this case, the structural inability of the labor market to reach an equilibrium wage that includes the individual.

Maria just graduated from college and is looking for a full-time position with an investment banking firm.

• FRICTIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT: is a type of voluntary unemployment that takes place when an individual is searching for a new and better job. Both structural and frictional unemployment are part of the natural unemployment rate.

Simone is a real estate agent. House sales in her area have declined because the region has been going through a recession. She has no clients and is currently looking for a new full-time job.

• CYCLICAL UNEMPLOYMENT: results from a decrease in aggregate demand due to a decrease in economic activity (recession), which means that less labor is required to produce aggregate output. This is considered an unhealthy type of unemployment since it happens when the economy is in contraction or has stopped growing and soon will start to contract.

Answer 2

1. Kevin: Structural unemployment
2. Maria: Frictional unemployment
3. Simone: Cyclical unemployment

Step-by-step explanation:

Structural unemployment refers to a mismatch between the jobs available and the skill levels of the unemployed. What this means is the an individual does not possess the skills needed for him/her to be employed. As we can see from the scenario above, Kevin is unskilled and the minimum-wage legislation is keeping employers from adding more of the low-skill positions for which he qualifies.

Frictional unemployment refers to the unemployment which exists in an economy due to people being in the process of moving from one job to another. This has nothing to do with whether the individual is unskilled. As we can see from the scenario above, Maria is in the process of looking for a job.

Cyclical unemployment refers to the unemployment that arises when the overall demand for goods and services in an economy is low and cannot support full employment. This means that it occurs when economic growth is slow or when there is an economic contraction. From the scenario above, we can see that the house sales in Simone's area have declined because the region has been going through a recession.