Unemployment in the United States - Term Paper Example

 UNEMPLOYMENT IN UNITED STATES INTRODUCTION: Unemployment in other words can also be called as “Joblessness” it occurs when: “People are having no jobs, i.e. No earnings and are vigorously looking for work to earn money.” The employment rate can be determined by taking a ratio of the number of jobless people and total number of people in the work force at present. I.e. ___No. of Jobless people___ No. of people in labor force. The situation of unemployment has mostly been seen when there is a recession going on. As per the 2011 survey, BusinessWeek stated that about more than two hundred million people (200,000,000) were jobless all around the globe (Hamilton) . There is an obscure debate regarding the unemployment’s: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions. In order to overcome unemployment there are many proposed theories available such as: Classic Economies, Keynesian Economies. Etc. In order to understand the unemployment the first thing to know about is the main two types of unemployment. Includes: Structural Unemployment, and Frictional unemployment. The Structural unemployment deals with the impact of disruptive innovations, technology advancement and Globalization (,36). In contrast to the structural unemployment Frictional unemployment emphasis on the individual’s own work and how it compares the amount of wage rate at present plus the efforts and time required in order to find a job. United States is one of the advanced state economically and is known as “Super Power”. People living all around the globe desire to find a job there. US in the past few years was termed as the hub for employment globally and its employment rate was growing. But whenever the inflation strikes it affect the United States and the rate of employment badly due to which many individuals become jobless and thus the rate of unemployment increases. BODY: US constitutes one of the biggest economy of the world and that is the reason that many of the individuals from all over the world are attracted towards the USA. Use your common sense, that if a greater number of population is heading towards the United States then how many will be employed? This is a big question. USA since 1950 is working hard to increase the number of jobs every year. The average rate of growth of jobs is 5-7% each year. But still the rate of unemployment is increasing especially at the time when inflation occurs. There are no. of the causes that increase the rate of unemployment. Let us discuss a few of them: CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT: Unemployment occurs due to: 1. Firing. 2. Technology. 3. Outsourcing. 4. Consumer Demand. 5. Migration. 6. Retirement age. 7. No Support for Small Businesses. 8. Taxes and Regulation. 9. Multitasking. 1) Firing: When the organizations fire or lay off the individuals from the job or the individuals quit themselves then they become jobless. The number of jobless people is one of the reasons of unemployment. 2) Technology: Due to the advancement in technology businesses are becoming more and more software, machinery and robot oriented. This advancement causes a low number of defects in the work and due to this many firms make layoffs or even for the individuals that give rise to the unemployment. 3) Outsourcing: Most of the businesses are now-a-days looking for outsourcing their operations to countries where the labor cost is low. This leads to unemployment is the respected country. 4) Consumer Demand: As the demand of consumers for the purchase of goods and services falls, the companies producing the respected goods and services have to slow down their operations which causes layoffs or firing people due to low expected profits. 5) Migration: When the individuals seeking good jobs migrate from villages or less developed countries they form a competitive market where jobs becomes less and no. of people seeking jobs becomes more. This situation causes unemployment. 6) Retirement Age: When the retirement age is of high length then it provides less opportunity for younger candidates to get the job. This leads to the situation called as unemployment. 7) No Support for Small Businesses: It is termed as the Small Business are the pillars that support an economy of the country. When these small businesses are not provided with the sufficient money and the opportunity to operate, by the Government then the number of jobs in the market reduces which automatically leads to the situation of unemployment. 8) Taxes and Regulation: The increasing taxes and regulations by the US government makes it difficult for many Small firms exist. As a result the affected firms make layoffs and fire the individuals which increase the number of jobless individuals and thus creates unemployment. 9) Multitasking: Now-a-days the organizations in the US promote those individuals who can perform multitasks. Due to the trend that one individual performing more than one job at a time has given rise to the less number of hired people in the firms that means unemployment. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF UNITED STATES: In the United States the rate of unemployment is measured on the following criteria. That is: Only those individuals are included in the survey who are looking for the job. Those who are: Retired. Housewives. Individuals who have stopped seeking jobs. Are not included in the rate of unemployment surveys. Due to this reason many people believe that the rate of unemployment that is measured by the Government is not accurate. It is actually more than that. In the early 1950’s most of the women were not very fond of doing jobs and thus never seek any. But as the time runs women found that they also need to be independent and thus started seeking and doing jobs. In the early years many felt reluctant to provide jobs to women but now the trend have been changed and the race against time has started. Now everyone is running in the race of getting better jobs. Due to this race this world has become a competitive place and only those who are competitive can be successful. United States unemployment rate is pretty much fluctuating throughout its history. The trend is stated below from 1970 to 1990. Table 5.1 Population, Labor Force Participation, Employment-Population, and Unemployment Rates, 1970-90 (Freeman) U.S. Civilian Employment- Unemployment Population LFPR Population Rate 1970 137,085 60.4 57.4 4.9 1971 140,216 60.2 56.6 5.9 1972 144,126 60.4 57.0 5.6 1973 147,096 60.8 57.8 4.9 1974 150,120 61.3 57.8 5.6 1975 153,153 61.2 56.1 8.5 1976 156,150 61.6 56.8 7.7 1977 159,033 62.3 57.9 7.1 1978 161,910 63.2 59.3 6.1 1979 164,863 63.7 59.9 5.8 1980 167,745 63.8 59.2 7.1 1981 170,130 63.9 59.0 7.6 1982 172,271 64.0 57.8 9.7 1983 174,215 64.0 57.9 9.6 1984 176,383 64.4 59.5 7.5 1985 178,206 64.8 60.1 7.2 1986 180,587 65.3 60.7 7.0 1987 182,753 65.6 61.5 6.2 1988 184,613 65.9 62.3 5.5 1989 186,393 66.5 63.0 5.3 1990 188,049 66.4 62.7 5.5 Note: The civilization rate of the population is in the thousands. It is the data that clearly indicates that the economy of the United States is fluctuating. The years such as: 1970, 1971, 1975, and 1982 are those years in which the United States was suffering from the Inflation period. Whereas: 1973, 1978, 1984, 1987, and 1988 are those years in which the United States efforts were rewarded and the employment rate was improved. The unemployment rate in the United States since 1990 to 2001 includes: Year Rate 19901 5.6% 1991 6.8 1992 7.5 1993 6.9 19941 6.1 1995 5.6 1996 5.4 19971 4.9 19981 4.5 19991 4.2 20001 4.0 2001 4.7 United States economy was struck with the highest rate of inflation in 1992. The unemployment rate in the United States since 2002 to 2012 includes: Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2002 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.9 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.9 6.0 2003 5.8 5.9 5.9 6.0 6.1 6.3 6.2 6.1 6.1 6.0 5.8 5.7 2004 5.7 5.6 5.8 5.6 5.6 5.6 5.5 5.4 5.4 5.5 5.4 5.4 2005 5.3 5.4 5.2 5.2 5.1 5.0 5.0 4.9 5.0 5.0 5.0 4.9 2006 4.7 4.8 4.7 4.7 4.6 4.6 4.7 4.7 4.5 4.4 4.5 4.4 2007 4.6 4.5 4.4 4.5 4.4 4.6 4.7 4.6 4.7 4.7 4.7 5.0 2008 5.0 4.9 5.1 5.0 5.4 5.6 5.8 6.1 6.1 6.5 6.8 7.3 2009 7.8 8.3 8.7 8.9 9.4 9.5 9.5 9.6 9.8 10.0 9.9 9.9 2010 9.7 9.8 9.8 9.9 9.6 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.5 9.5 9.8 9.4 2011 9.1 9.0 8.9 9.0 9.0 9.1 9.1 9.1 9.0 8.9 8.7 8.5 2012 8.3 8.3 8.2 8.1 8.2 8.2 8.3 8.1 7.8 7.9     The statistics of unemployment in the United States are clear that after 2001 the inflation rate in the US is increasing and because of that unemployment is growing. People who have got nothing to earn are the ones who cause problems for others such as public and Government. These problems could be: Snatching, Theft, Robbery, Murder. Etc. WAR BIGGEST THREAT TO UNITED STATES: United States had its beginning in 1995 when the USA attacked Iraq. A huge amount of the budget was allocated for this war by the United States. And then USA attacked Afghanistan. United States since 2002 is engaged in the war with Afghanistan. This war had become an endless war which is still on going. USA’s huge amount of the budget is allocated for this war. At 2002 this budget estimated at $1 billion but now it is more than $40 billion. Because of this the Government is forced to charge more tax from the general public and cannot do much for the betterment of the society. More of it, the Government of United States still try to make their country a better place for its citizens and for this cause they have burdened US under the debts. It is true that the Government is trying hard in order to provide the citizens with more and better jobs and to reduce the rate of unemployment and for this reason they have initiated many programs and established many businesses but it seems that demand for new and better jobs is growing day by day. Since the expenses are really a high Government is failing to meet the total need of the general public regarding employment. That ultimately means that Unemployment is growing. The only way to overcome unemployment is the creation of new jobs. (Evans) CONCLUSION: Unemployment is said to be when the individuals are jobless and are actively seeking for the job in order to earn. The unemployment occurs due to many reasons. A few of them are: Firing. Technology. Outsourcing. Consumer Demand. Migration. Retirement age. No Support for Small Businesses. Taxes and Regulation. Multitasking. Since its beginning United States has been facing the problem of unemployment. It is undeniable to say that US has done nothing to improve their rate of unemployment but since it is a very big issue and difficult to resolve, it still continues. As we view the statistics of the rate of unemployment of the United States, they are really fluctuating. Since 1966 till Oct 2012 it is pretty much visible that the United States is facing ups and downs regarding the rate of unemployment. In earlier times a few people were competitive but now this world has become a competitive arena for everyone. Only those can survive who can possess special characteristics. Due to which getting employed have become much more difficult. Thus the rate of unemployment is growing in the united states. And people with no jobs means problem United States are in the state where it requires a good organized plan in order to reduce and even overcome with the problem regarding employment. References: "Databases, Tables & Calculators by Subject." Bureau of Labor Statistics Data. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. . Hamilton, Scott. "World Employment May Not Reach Pre-Crisis Level For Five Years." Bloomberg Businessweek. BLOOMBERG, 31 Oct. 2011. Web. 2 Dec. 2012. . Top of Form Technology and Structural Unemployment: Reemploying Displaced Adults : Summary. Washington, D.C: Congress of the U.S., Office of Technology Assessment, 1986. Print.p36 Bottom of Form Read More