Unemployment
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| unemployed | 失业 | shī yè |
| labor force | 劳动力 | láo dòng lì |
| employed | 就业 | jiù yè |
| unemployment rate | 失业率 | shī yè lǜ |
| labor force participation rate | 劳动力参与率 | láo dòng lì cān yù lǜ |
| working-age population | 劳动年龄人口 | láo dòng nián líng rén kǒu |
| frictional | 摩擦性失业 | mó cā xìng shī yè |
| structural | 结构性失业 | jié gòu xìng shī yè |
| technology | 技术 | jì shù |
| cyclical | 周期性失业 | zhōu qī xìng shī yè |
| downturn | 经济下行 | jīng jì xià xíng |
| full employment | 充分就业 | chōng fèn jiù yè |
| natural rate of unemployment | 自然失业率 | zì rán shī yè lǜ |
| discouraged workers | 灰心工人 | huī xīn gōng rén |
Who counts as unemployed?
- Not everyone without a job is "unemployed" in the official sense.
- A retiree or a full-time student isn't looking for work.
- To measure the job market, we first decide who is even in it.
- That group is the labor force 劳动力.
The labour force and two rates
- The labor force is everyone employed 就业 plus everyone unemployed 失业 (jobless but actively looking).
- The unemployment rate 失业率 = unemployed ÷ labor force × 100.
- The labor force participation rate 劳动力参与率 = labor force ÷ working-age population 劳动年龄人口 × 100.
The labour force includes:
It leaves out people not seeking work — retirees, full-time students, stay-at-home parents.
A town has 95,000 employed and 5,000 unemployed. What is the unemployment rate, in percent?
Labour force = 100,000; rate = 5,000 ÷ 100,000 × 100 = 5%.
Three types of unemployment
- Frictional 摩擦性失业 — short-term, while people move between jobs. Normal and even healthy.
- Structural 结构性失业 — workers' skills or locations no longer match the jobs, often from new technology 技术.
- Cyclical 周期性失业 — caused by a downturn 经济下行, when weak demand means fewer workers are needed.
Which type of unemployment?
Frictional unemployment is short-term job switching; structural is a skills or location mismatch; cyclical comes from a downturn in the business cycle.
Unemployment caused by a recession (weak demand) is called:
Cyclical unemployment rises in a downturn and falls in an expansion.
The natural rate and full employment
- The natural rate of unemployment 自然失业率 = frictional + structural (when cyclical is zero).
- The economy is at full employment 充分就业 when the actual rate equals the natural rate.
- Full employment does not mean zero unemployment — some frictional and structural always exists.
- Discouraged workers 灰心工人 who stop looking leave the labor force, making the rate look lower than reality.
Full employment means the unemployment rate is zero.
Full employment means the actual rate equals the natural rate — some frictional and structural remain.
The natural rate of unemployment equals frictional plus ______ unemployment.
At the natural rate, cyclical unemployment is zero.
When discouraged workers stop looking for a job, the measured unemployment rate:
They leave the labour force, so both it and the unemployed count fall — the rate understates reality.
The labor force = employed + unemployed. The unemployment rate is unemployed ÷ labor force. Unemployment is frictional, structural, or cyclical; the natural rate (frictional + structural) defines full employment — which is not zero unemployment.