Question

The three people described in the following table are categorized as unemployed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Identify each person in the table as structurally, frictionally, or cyclically unemployed.
Unemployment Type
Structural
Frictional
Cyclical
1. Teresa is a physician who has decided to relocate to California to be closer to her family. She is currently interviewing with several prestigious hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Automobile demand has fallen during a recent recession, and Beth has been laid off from her job on the assembly line.
2. Sam recently lost his job as a waiter at a local restaurant. A recent increase in the minimum wage keeps local employers from adding more of the low-skill positions for which he qualifies, so he has been unable to find work.
3. He continues to look for a job, but he's considering going back to school for vocational training. The following table shows data on frictional, cyclical, structural, and total unemployment for an economy.
Unemployment Type Rate
(Percent)
Frictional 1.1
Cyclical 0.0
Structural 3.2
Total unemployment 4.3
This economy is not currently at its natural rate of unemployment.
a. True
b. False

Answer 1

1. Teresa is a physician who has decided to relocate to California to be closer to her family. She is currently interviewing with several prestigious hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area. - Frictional

Frictional unemployment consists of the people who are in between jobs. Teresa is in between jobs because she moved to California, but she is expected to find new employment soon.

Automobile demand has fallen during a recent recession, and Beth has been laid off from her job on the assembly line. - Cyclical

Cyclical unemployment increases when the economy is in recession, and decreases when the economy is growing. In this case, Beth has been laid off because the market for automobiles is experiencing a downturn, thus, he is in cyclical unemployment.

Sam recently lost his job as a waiter at a local restaurant. A recent increase in the minimum wage keeps local employers from adding more of the low-skill positions for which he qualifies, so he has been unable to find work. - Structural

Structural unemployment occurs when a person's skills are mismatched with market demand. Sam's skills are not productive enough for him to be hired at the current minimum wage or above, therefore, he will have to acquire more skills in order to be hired again by another firm. He is in structural unemployment.

This economy is not currently at its natural rate of unemployment. - b. False

The natural rate of unemployment occurs when there is no cyclical unemployment, and there is only frictional and structural unemployment. In this case, the unemployment rate is 0.0, meaning that the economy is at its natural rate of unemployment.