This project is consisting of information on unemployment in Jamaica and what can be done to improve employment. Unemployment is macroeconomics There are different types of unemployment such as frictional unemployment ‘this is a type of voluntary unemployment that arises because of the time needed to match job seekers with job openings’, structural unemployment ‘this happens when a large amount of unemployed workers (labor force) isn’t qualify for a large amount of labor force demand’. seasonal unemployment, ‘this is when persons are employed temporary for reasons such as a hotel or supermarket needing extra help because of a season (Christmas, summer) but will cut loose those workers when that season period is finish’ and cyclical unemployment ‘this is used to refer to the fluctuation in unemployment that is incurred by business cycles, more specially, the unemployment caused by economic recessions’. In this project you will find information on this problem and why it is consider being an economic one, the theories and model pertaining to unemployment, recommend economic concepts and inventions that can be employed to correct unemployment and the benefits of applying these concepts and inventions.

What is the economic problem?

Unemployment in Jamaica

Unemployment Spikes to 14.1% with 23,000 Jobs lost

Unemployment is one of the main problems affecting Jamaica. According to Streetdirectory, ‘Unemployment refers to the condition and extent of joblessness within an economy, and is measured in terms of the unemployment rate, which is the number of unemployed workers divided by the total civilian labor force.’ (Sinha, 2012)

According to The Gleaner, published Friday May 18, 2012, ‘Some 23,000 jobs were lost last year after the current survey was done.’ In January 2012, The Labor force Survey release in May put the unemployment rate at 14.1 per cent compared to last year, which was at 12.9 per cent. The labor force has grown to 177,200 and the latest survey shows that some 9,300 people dropped out of the labor force, cutting the pool from 1.27 million to 1.26 million.

The Gleaner also stated that ‘The result for the January 2012 survey, which was conducted over the period December 18-24, estimate that there are 686,900 males and 573,700 women in the labor force.’ The employed pool totaled 1.08 million, of which was 56.7 per cent or 614,800 are men and 468,600 or 43 per cent are women. The Gleaner also states that, ‘The spike in unemployment is heavily skewed towards females among whom the unemployment rate is 18.3 per cent, while for men it is 10.5 per cent. Sectors with the largest jobs cuts over one year included construction, 10,900 jobs lost, and professionals, senior officials and technician, 10,200 cuts.

Statin estimates that the persons seeking work in the January 2012 survey as increased by 4.3 per cent.

The effects unemployment has on Jamaica

Unemployment affects majority of our Jamaicans especially the inter city areas and in particular the youth of this area. Unemployment creates many problems such as crime and violence, lowering of one’s self-esteem, and poverty. Etc. Crime and Violence comes to present because when unemployed person are in need and cannot assist themselves or other, they turn to robbing and killing others to satisfy their needs and wants.

The lowering of one’s self-esteem may occur when they see another working and being able to assist themselves while he/she can’t do the same. This can lead to crime and violence.

Poverty is a big issue in today economy and most unemployed person are the one facing this situation. When person can’t work and afford things, this lead to financial problems, divorce, children losing their education and health, hunger, fights and more which then can lead to poverty.

Why consider unemployment to be an economic problem?