South By North Strategies, Ltd.

Economist’s View explains the evidence suggesting that structural unemployment is not the main problem facing the labor market.

The point is that when we talk about structural unemployment, we assume aggregate demand is not the problem. Thus, structural unemployment must be measured under an assumption that demand is sufficient to return us to full employment. Structural unemployment is driven by changes in tastes, technology, etc. that produce geographic, skill, or other mismatches that prevent reemployment. For example, if there is a change in tastes that causes the demand for hula hoops to fall and the demand for skateboards to increase, or a change in technology that causes the demand for typewriters to fall and the demand for word processing software to increase, then we have to move workers and other resources out of hula hoop and typewriter production and into the skateboard and word processing businesses. That will take time if there are geographic, training, or other barriers that prevent the quick translation of resources from one use or one place to another. Note, however, that the problem is not lack of demand. People want more skateboards and word processors than they currently have, so that unlike the example above where higher demand and the higher wages that come with it cause the worker to move and eliminate the mismatch, an increase in demand won’t fix the problem. If an increase in demand will fix the problem, as in the example above, then it’s not a structural problem.