The Meanings of "Unemployed" and "Unattached"

(Image borrowed from http://chattanoogapulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/unemployment-300x225.jpg)

Just two weeks ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the highest unemployment rate the U.S. has seen in over 26 years. As a soon-to-be college graduate, I am incredibly grateful to have a job offer, but I also feel the pains of my peers who are about to leave the comforts of B-Y-woo and enter an unwelcoming labor market marked by 10.2% unemployment. To some of my friends, the prospect of unemployment means uncertainty and financial stress. In economic terms, however, what does it really mean to be "unemployed"? Loosely speaking, an individual is considered "unemployed" if he or she is actively looking for work but cannot find a job. In Econ 110, we also learn that unemployment is actually a function of at least three major categories of unemployment: cyclical unemployment, structural unemployment, and frictional unemployment.

1. Cyclical unemployment occurs during downturns of the business cycle, when a decrease in the aggregate demand for goods and services lowers firms' revenues and causes businesses to lay off workers. The current unemployment problem is due largely to the business cycle. The government may try to alleviate cyclical unemployment by implementing fiscal policy (like the Stimulus Package), and the Federal Reserve may also intervene by conducting expansionary monetary policy (lowering interest rates to increase investment). Of course, some laissez-faire economists may advocate doing nothing, i.e., letting the business cycle correct itself in due time.

2. Structural unemployment occurs when workers do not "fit" the qualifications of vacant jobs. In recent years, a large supply of construction workers got laid-off when the housing market collapsed. Many of these men and women who had been trained only in construction-related vocations suddenly became structurally unemployed when they did not have the qualifications (education, credentials, etc.) necessary for filling the jobs that were available after the housing bubble burst. Structural unemployment can be alleviated when individuals acquire the skills and qualifications required for vacant jobs, and/or when they migrate to a different job market where their particular skill sets are more valuable.

3. Frictional unemployment is "natural" unemployment--the rate of unemployment an economy experiences as a result of individuals leaving old jobs for "better" jobs. Frictional unemployment is not necessarily "bad," but is, rather, a normal byproduct of free labor markets. One of the most common manifestations of frictional unemployment occurs when recent college grads (like my friends) search for jobs right out of college and are technically "unemployed" in the interim.

As it turns out, some BYU grads worry less about leaving school without a job offer and more about leaving school without a serious boyfriend/girlfriend or spouse! As in the labor market, though, being "unemployed" or romantically "unattached," may be disheartening, but it is likely a short-run phenomenon. In my opinion, the subject of "unattachedness" is less painful and much more exciting when viewed through econ-colored glasses. Let's assume that unattachedness in dating is the rate of individuals who are looking for dates, divided by the population of individuals who are dating and looking for dates. The categories of unattachedness happen to analogously align quite nicely with the categories of unemployment.

1. I witnessed an epidemic of cyclical unattachedness right after my freshman year at BYU when several of my dorm buddies had to say goodbye to their boyfriends before the guys left for two years to serve LDS missions. For a short while, a massive decrease in demand for dates from the 19-21-year-old LDS male population instantly made many of my friends and me cyclically unattached, and girls-night-dates with Mr. Darcy and Ben & Jerry's quickly replaced "real" dates with the Jims, Petes, and Sams of Deseret Towers. How do "institutions" alleviate cyclical unattachment? Well, our brothers-in-law and bishops may have tried to create aggregate demand "shocks" for us by setting us up with their former mission companions and/or encouraging us to meet worthy, kind "demanders" at ward parties. If all else failed, though, many of us managed to "wait out the slump," and become re-employed when the business cycle recovered (i.e., when summer ended and we found ourselves back at BYU in congregations full of eligible, recently returned missionaries).

2. Structural unattachedness may be a slightly more sensitive subject, because we've grown up learning not to care about what others think. For various reasons, though, we may be in situations where there are single young men/women to date, but we are not a good "fit" for the person due to mismatched "qualifications." In some cases, the supply of available daters may not be interesting to us (and vice versa) due to differences in personality, ambition, and age. Where appropriate or desirable, it may make sense to alter ourselves slightly to market characteristics (I think that just a bit of this is healthy in moderation, to the extent that "altering" means breaking bad habits and living up to our unique potential--not becoming a clone of someone else.) Some people combat structural unemployment by physically moving to better "markets" (e.g., from Fargo, North Dakota to Salt Lake City) or by joining sites like e-Harmony to electronically search for good matches.

I remember feeling "structurally unemployed" for a few months when I was home for summer break a few years ago. As an 18-year-old undergrad, I felt just a little out of place in my temporary suburban singles ward, where half the men were at least a decade older than me and were certainly not eager to date teenagers like me and my friends. Of course, there's no way I could have "altered" myself to become old enough to meet their qualifications. In hindsight, though, if I had been desperate to break into the suburban singles market, I suppose I could have lied about my age. But, like I said, unattachedness--like unemployment--is not unambiguously bad, and I still had a fun summer, even when dating slowed down.


3. Finally, frictional unattachedness is possibly the happiest type of unattachedness. Frictional unattachedness is the flavor of unattachedness many of us would like to be--the Meg Ryan of the Chick Flick world, if you will. When Meg breaks up with her nerdy-cute bf near the end of You've Got Mail, she naturally feels a bit of sadness but is optimistic about searching for future (better) prospects. As a result, Meg skips through the streets of New York with determination and spirit, and sure enough, she finds her corporate, instant-messaging Prince Charming: Mr. Joe Fox.

So no matter what category of unattachedness you think describes you, here's to letting well-meaning relatives meddle with our dating demand, improving ourselves to align with market characteristics, searching for the happy ending of our Meg Ryan-Tom Hanks fairytale, and above all, enjoying the journey! :)