UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE US FOR THE LAST 20

YEARS
MIKE REITZ
 UNEMPLOYMENT
“the inability of labor force participants to find jobs”
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FORMULA
Number of Unemployed People/Labor Force x 100%
LABOR FORCE
“all persons over age sixteen who are either working for pay or actively seeking paid
employment”
LABOR FORCE

• WHO IS NOT INCLUDED • WHO IS INCLUDED

LABOR FORCE FORMULA
# of unemployed + # of employed
LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE
“the percentage of the working-age population working or seeking employment”
LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE
FORMULA
Labor Force/Eligible Population x 100%
WHY DOES
SOMEONE BECOME
UNEMPLOYED?
• New Entrants

• Job Leavers

• Reentrants

• Job Losers
HOW LONG IS
SOMEONE
TYPICALLY
UNEMPLOYED?
Discouraged Worker

The longer someone is unemployed

the more frustrated they become
causing them to leave the labor force
TYPES OF UNEMPLOYMENT
Seasonal, Frictional, Structural, and Cyclical
SEASONAL
“unemployment due to seasonal changes in employment or labor supply”
FRICTIONAL
“brief periods of unemployment experienced by people moving between jobs or into the
labor market”
STRUCTURAL
“unemployment caused by a mismatch between the skills (or location) of job seekers and
the requirements (or location) of available jobs”
CYCLICAL
“unemployment attributable to a lack of job vacancies- that is, to an adequate level of
aggregate demand”
IS UNEMPLOYMENT DESIRABLE?
Yes – Full Employment and Balance Growth Act of 1978 sets goal of 4%
THE LAST 20 YEARS
OVERVIEW OF UNEMPLOYMENT
THE LAST 20 YEARS
Notable years

• 2009

• 2010

• 2011

• 2018

• 2019
• 2020
COVID-19
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

• End of 2019 3.5%

• April 2020 14.8%
• July 2021 5.4%
LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE “POST”
PANDEMIC
• April 2020 60.2%
• 8.3 million people left labor force

• Currently still 1.7% below pre-pandemic level

 OVERVIEW OF LABOR FORCE
PARTICIPATION RATE THE LAST
20 YEARS