ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the measurement of labour market conditions among Irish males over the period 1983–1996. Labour force participation rates may be affected by the availability of employment opportunities. For this reason they should be used to supplement the evidence from unemployment rates when assessing the trend in labour market conditions. Demographic factors are often believed to play an important role in labour market developments. The entry of the post-war baby-boom generation on the labour market in the 1970s tended to depress the opportunities for young workers, resulting in a downward movement in the age-earnings profile in the United States and a rise in the relative youth unemployment rate in many European countries. The rise in non-employment among older males provides the strongest evidence of the existence of hidden unemployment or labour market slack that is not reflected in the conventional unemployment figure.
