Unemployment

Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and seeking work but is currently without work.

Unemployment rate in European Union

Causes Of Unemployment:

->Rapid changes in technology;
->Disability;
->Undulating business cycles;
->Changes in tastes as well as alterations in the climatic conditions. This may in turn lead to decline in demand for certain services as well as products;
->Attitude towards employers;
->Willingness to work;
->Employee values;
->Discriminating factors in the place of work (may include discrimination on the basis of age, class, ethnicity, color and race);
->Ability to look for employment.

Consequences Of Unemployment :

Individual:

->Failure to pay rent may lead to homelessness through foreclosure or eviction.
->Increases susceptibility to malnutrition, illness, mental stress, and loss of self-esteem , leading to depression

Society

->High unemployment can encourage xenophobia and protectionism as workers fear that foreigners are stealing their jobs.
-> Workers can lose their skills, causing a loss of human capital.
->Large amount of expenses to the government

Solutions to reduce unemployment:

->Support for disadvantaged groups of people on the labour market, investment in upgrading skills and adjusting skills to the needs of the labour market;
->improved coordination of economic, employment and social policies, respecting the rules of the internal market;
->Improving the business and investment environment as a means of creating new jobs.
->Reducing the administrative burden for enterprises and unnecessary regulation.



Sources: http://www.economywatch.com/unemployment/causes.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/EU_unemployment_march_2008.svg/350px-EU_unemployment_march_2008.svg.png

http://www.eu2009.cz/en/news-and-documents/press-releases/employment-summit-offers-solutions-to-reduce-unemployment-20758/