Unit 6.

2: Employment trends

A key macroeconomic objective of government is to obtain a low level (or rate) of

unemployment. With that in mind, governments keep a close eye on certain trends
associated with employment and unemployment.

Global trends in employment and unemployment:

Task 1:

1. What does the graph on the left hand side show? What is the ‘trend’ in
employment over the period of time?
2. Suggest two reasons why you think the global employment trend has
increased over the time period shown.
3. Look at the right hand diagram, what was the trend in the unemployment
rate prior to 2008?
4. What happened in 2008 and why did this lead to an increase in the number
of unemployed globally?

The working population/labour force versus the dependent population

The labour force is the same as the working population and is comprised of all
those people who are in work and those who are out of work but actively
seeking a job.

This means that all the other members of society are part of the dependent
population as they depend on the output of goods and services produced by the
labour force. This group includes: students in school, students in ______________, the
old, the severely _______________, people who chose not to work or who can’t work and
the very young.

The labour force participation rate measures the percentage of the population of
working age that is economically active, i.e. either in work or looking for work and
therefore able to produce goods and services
Unemployment

Unemployment occurs when there are people who are without work and are
actively seeking a job. Governments can determine the number of unemployed by
measuring the number of people that claim unemployment benefits. However, in
many countries unemployment benefits do not exist or there are many unemployed
people who are prevented from claiming them. This means that the number of
unemployed has to estimated through surveys of households.

Task 2:

Task 3:

For a county of your choice find the following information using

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ (use the economy
section for your chosen country)

1. Unemployment rate
2. Labour force by occupation (agriculture/industry/services)
3. Use Excel to create a pie chart showing labour force by occupation.