ABSTRACT
Because there are types of unemployment that are considerably more serious than that which has been termed “frictional unemployment,” the practical problem of “counting” the unemployed has become both important and controversial. Equally important is recognition that unemployment is not an “equal opportunity” phenomenon. White males, especially those in their prime-age working years between twenty-five and fifty-five, have historically experienced a lower layoff rate and a higher recall rate than women or nonwhites. This has generally been the case, even for those who were not college-educated. The concern of this chapter is to examine the unemploymenf statistics and related criteria for evaluating the seriousness of unemployment Not only are there several types of unemployment that are classified according to the origin of the underlying deficiency of demand for labor, but they affect the ways in which different households and employers make decisions that relate to labor-market behavior and outcomes.
