THE ARTICLE IS ABOUT UNEMPLOYMENT IN 21ST CENTURY

Unemployment is defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as people who do not have a job, have
actively looked for work in the past four weeks, and are currently available for work. Also, people
who were temporarily laid off and were waiting to be called back to that job are included in
the unemployment statistics. The BLS reports this in the U-3 report, a part of the monthly jobs report.
The BLS measures unemployment through monthly household surveys called the Current
Population Survey. It has been conducted every month since 1940, as part of the government's
response to the Great Depression. It has been modified several times since then and experienced a
major redesign in 1994. That included a revamping of the questionnaire, the use of computer-
assisted interviewing, and revisions to some of the labor force concepts.
The BLS does not count everyone who is jobless as unemployed. It excludes those who have not
looked for work within the past four weeks. The Bureau also removes them from the labor force.
Most people leave the labor force when they retire, go to school, have a disability that keeps them
from working, or have family responsibilities. The BLS doesn't count people who would like to work
but they aren't actively looking for work.
The BLS does keep track of those people, though. They are reported in the U-6 unemployment rate.
Some people call this the real unemployment rate. It includes those who have looked for work within
the past 12 months, but not within the past four weeks. The Bureau calls them "marginally attached
to the labor force." A subset of the marginally attached is called discouraged workers. They have
given up looking because they don't think there are jobs out there for them.

Causes of Unemployment
Nationally, unemployment is caused when the economy slows down, and businesses are forced to
cut costs by reducing payroll expenses. The 2008 financial crisis created the worst unemployment
since the 1980s. The history of recessions reveals that they always cause an increase in
unemployment rates.
Competition in particular industries or companies can also cause unemployment. Advanced
technology, such as computers or robots, cause unemployment by replacing worker tasks with
machines.
Jobs outsourcing is a significant cause of unemployment. It's especially common in technology, call
centers, and human resources.

Consequences of Unemployment
The consequences of unemployment for the individual is financially and often emotionally
destructive. The consequences for the economy can also be harmful if unemployment rises above
5% or 6%. When that many people are unemployed, the economy loses one of its key drivers of
growth, consumer spending. Quite simply, workers have less money to spend until they find another
job.
Lower consumer spending from unemployed workers reduces business revenue, which forces
companies to cut more payroll to reduce their costs. It can become a downward spiral very quickly.
One of the consequences of the Great Recession was that workers were unemployed for a very long
time. These long-term unemployed were out of work, and looking, for more than six months.
If they've been out of work even longer, their job skills may no longer match the requirements of the
new jobs being offered. That's called structural unemployment. Many of them are 55 or older. They
may not be able to get a good job again, despite laws prohibiting age discrimination. They may get
part-time or low-paying entry jobs to make ends meet. Then become unemployed again until they
can take down early Social Security benefits at age 62. For this reason, many economists think the
recession permanently increased the natural rate of unemployment.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER:
1.) What is the topic of the article?

- The topic of the article tackles about unemployment.

2.) Does it have evidence?
- The said article does holds an evidence. And it is through the definition of Bureau of Labor
Statistics’ about poverty.
3.) Does it use formal words?
- Contractions can be seen in the article.

4.) Does it have valid conclusion?

- It does have valid conclusion.
5.) What is its structure?
- The article uses the description structure of academic text.
6.) What is its purpose?
- The purpose of the article is to spread awareness about the causes/consequences of
unemployment.