The following are five different unemployment scenarios. Your job is to (1) read each scenario,
(2) identify the type of unemployment they’re experiencing, and (3) explain why they are
experiencing that type of unemployment.
Hint: apply the definitions to the scenarios. If you say a scenario is frictional unemployment,
then does the scenario line up with the definition of frictional unemployment?
- Jane works at a water park that is open from May to August each year. When the park
is closed from September to April, Jane does not work as she is at school. - Baldo just graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, and
is currently trying to find a job. Until he finds one, he is going to move back in with his
parents. - Skylar worked as a cashier at her local grocery store, but her manager decided to buy
a few self-checkout machines. The store didn’t need as many cashiers as a result, so
Skylar was laid off. - The economy is in a recession and the state government had to cut education
funding, so Laurie was laid off from her position as a 4th grade teacher. - Matt worked in the IT department of a small online store. Eventually, the store decided
to stop using its own IT department and outsource IT services to another company. As
a result, Matt was laid off.
