Structural Unemployment

Structural unemployment is a longer-lasting form of unemployment caused by fundamental shifts in an economy and exacerbated by extraneous factors such as technology, competition and government policy. Reasons why structural unemployment occurs include workers' lack of requisite job skills or that workers live too far from regions where jobs are available and cannot move closer. Jobs are available, but there is a serious mismatch between what companies need and what workers can offer.

Structural unemployment is caused by forces other than the business cycle. This means that structural unemployment can last for decades and may need radical change to redress the situation. If structural unemployment is not addressed, it can increase the unemployment rate long after a recession is over and can increase the natural rate of unemployment.

For example, hundreds of thousands of well-paying manufacturing jobs have been lost in the United States over the past three decades as production jobs have migrated to lower-cost areas in China and elsewhere. This decline in the number of jobs creates a higher natural rate of unemployment. Growing technology in all areas of life increases future structural unemployment, since workers without adequate skills will get marginalized. Even those with skills may face redundancy, given the high rate of technological obsolescence.

While the 2007-2009 global recession caused cyclical unemployment, it also increased structural unemployment in the United States. As the jobless rate peaked over 10%, the average unemployment period for millions of workers rose significantly. These workers' skills deteriorated during this time of prolonged unemployment, causing structural unemployment. The depressed housing market also affected the job prospects of the unemployed, and therefore, increased structural unemployment. Relocating to a new job in another city would mean selling homes at a substantial loss, which not many were willing to do, creating a mismatch of skills and job availability.

France has been hit hard by structural unemployment. The country is facing a recession due to natural disasters and a strike movement that is halting economic recovery. Structural unemployment arises from the fact that a large portion of France's work force is participating in temporary second-level jobs with little chance of being promoted to long-term contracts, forcing them to strike. This results in a lack of job flexibility and little job mobility, sidelining many French workers who have not adapted to new tasks and skills. Labor unions and the French government are negotiating to help curb structural unemployment.