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A statistic used to measure the health of the economy and sometimes to predict future trends
Economic indicator
The system in which people make and spend their incomes
Economy
Reducing the size and payroll of a company by eliminating workers
Downsizing
Fluctuating levels of economic activity ranging from expansion to contraction
Business cycles
Unemployment that rises and falls with ups and downs in the business cycle
Cyclical unemployment
Voluntary unemployment that results from normal life circumstances (e.g., moving, changing careers, etc.)
Frictional unemployment
A situation in which a worker is not working enough or is not using his/her skills effectively
Underemployment
A situation in which the economy is using all of its labor resources in the most efficient way possible
Full employment
The rapid and unimpeded flow of capital, labor, and ideas across national borders
Globalization
Low-income health care in the United States
Medicaid
A set of ideas that assumes unemployment begins when wages rise too high and can be controlled by cutting wages
Classical theory of unemployment
A state of economic decline
Recession
A business practice in which companies reduce costs by transferring portions of work outside the business, often sending the work overseas
Outsourcing
An economic measure that confirms what is already known and does not predict future trends
Lagging indicator
Anything that triggers a response (e.g., an economic stimulus aims to jumpstart growth)
Stimulus
Unemployment that arises when there is a mismatch between available workers and available jobs
Structural unemploymen
A type of structural unemployment that occurs when advances in technology eliminate certain job positions
Technological unemployment
To operate a system, process, or piece of equipment with little or no direct human control
Automate
A type of structural unemployment that affects seasonal employees, such as farm workers, lifeguards, ski-resort employees, tax-return preparers, etc.
Seasonal unemployment
A tax that businesses must pay to fund benefits for unemployed workers
Unemployment tax
A set of ideas that assumes unemployment begins when businesses cut wages and can be controlled by increasing demand and encouraging spending
Keynesian theory of unemployment
The percentage of the labor pool that is currently seeking but unable to find work
Unemployment rate
The U.S. government’s fact-finding agency for economics and labor
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics
A situation in which a worker wants a different or higher paying job but “waits” in another position until that job becomes available
Wait unemployment