Cambridge International as and a level Economics Ebook

SELF-ASSESSMENT TASK 
9.14
In March 2014 more jobs were created in the US 
tertiary sector. Th
ese new jobs partly off set the 
number of jobs lost in construction as a result of the 
harsh winter weather. However, there was a rise in 
the unemployment rate from 6.6% to 6.7% and the 
number of people who had been out of work for more 
than a year increased to 38% of the total unemployed. 
Some economists blame long-term unemployment 
on globalisation for shift ing low-skilled jobs overseas 
or on advances in technology replacing them. Other 
economists suggest that it is unemployment itself that 
is causing the problem. Th
e latter economists argue 
that when people are out of work for a long time they 
become ‘scarred’ and fi nd it diffi
cult to be rehired 
and tend to lose the work habit.
1
Explain what type of unemployment some US 
construction workers suff ered in March 2014.
2
Explain what type of unemployment would be 
caused by globalisation ‘shift ing low-skill jobs 
overseas and advances in technology replacing 
workers’.
The pattern and trends in (un)employment
Over time the pattern of employment and unemployment 
tends to change. As an economy develops, comparative 
advantage changes as workers become more skilled. Th
e 
proportion of the labour force employed in the primary 
sector tends to decline. At fi rst the proportion employed 
in the secondary sector tends to increase. Th
en the 
proportion employed in the tertiary sector rises.
Th
ere may also be shorter trends in employment and 
unemployment, with industries within sectors declining 
and expanding. For example, while the number of workers 
employed in agriculture may be declining the number of 
workers employed in oil mining may be increasing with 
the discovery of new oil fi elds.