Do the Thakre Brothers want to delink Mumbai from rest of the country?Should Mumbai be seized with barbed wires to stop the continuous influx of outsiders?Should Mumbai be ejected out of Railway, Air and Sea maps so that only Maratha Manush would be allowed to live there and others not?

Palash Biswas

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I had to be in Mumbai and returned from there just last day.I have very intimate relationship with the people all over Maharashtra and always feel at home in Mumbai. No, Mumbai has not changed, neither the Mumbaikars nor the rest of Maharashtra. But intense hate campaign against outsiders branding them as unwanted, roots of all trouble, terrorists and illegal migrants have injected insecurity amongst the people based there and working away from their own states. The behaviour of the masses has not changed a little bit, nor the cosmopolitan character of the city varied otherwise. Mumbai remains the best of job market in the country. Despite hostile politics played by politicians to enhance their vote bank equations, people do rush to Mumbai from each and every corner of the country daily. All the Railway stations remained busy despite late monsoon amidst Thakre brothers aggressive hate campaign. Moreover, exodus of northeast students from Bangalore,Pune and Hyderabad seem to have no impact on Mumbai.

Mumbai remains the commercial and industrial capital of India. How the politicians do try to change this awesome status of Mumbai.Should Mumbai be seized with barbed wires to stop the continuous influx of outsiders?Should Mumbai be ejected out of Railway, Air and Sea maps so that only Maratha Manush would be allowed to live there and others not?Do the Hindutva forces want this situation. Mumbai should learn a lesion from North East experience which is alienated from the rest of country just because of power politics banking on hatred against the people from rest of India. Guahati is a beautiful city which could have been the gateway of south east asia and it would have made Guahati the second most viable commercial and industrial hub even ahead of Kolkata! Mind you, Kolkata lost its pioneer position in industry, commerce and job market just because of suicidal power politics and monopoly of Bengali Illuminati since independence! Should history repeat itself once again changing the status of Mumbai alike Kolkata? These questions need to be addressed immediately.

I always supported the identity of Maratha Manush. I always supported the rights of the Bhumi Putras, the sons of the soil. It is a justified demand to have share of the progress on the part of local people. It is justified not only in the case of Mumbai or Maharashtra, but it is quite a relevant demand in any part of the country.But the problem roots in the free market economy and the corporate model of development. Thakre brothers support the free market economy as well as the corporate development. It is the same case with each one associated with poltical class and market dominated comunities, the flag bearers of Hindutva, an anti national nationalism.Since free market has set the fire in production system, killed the scope of traditional livelihood and made refugees within the country, local employment is quite impossible anywhere in the country. Agriculture is destroyed while the economy could not throw a sustainable alternative. India is not industrialised as yet.Industrial production is zeroed down. We do live on service sectotor only. We need hard cash as purchsing capacity to sustain ourselves in a market turned society which is controlled by corporates in every sphere of life.Exclusion and excommunication make up for fiscal and monetary policies. No land reform.No economic empowerment. No social inclusion. Governance, legislation and administration run by corporates and MNCs. How do you expect that the people should be stopped to throng around the job markets, specifically Bg cities while they are subjected to be displaced from land, livelihood and even citizenship. It is the real problem. Which is not addressed at all. First stop displacement. Ensuer local employment everywhere. Speed up land reforms. Ensure implementaion of rights under fifth and sixth schedule. Ensure social justice and equity.No body wants to live anywhere branded unwanted away from home. But it has not to happen.

Mharashtra has maintained its status as industrial as well as agrarian state. Slowdown has not any impact whatsoever on Mumbai.Even large scale suicide by peasants every year in Vidarbha has not changed the agrarian character of Maharashtra. Thus, local employment for the Maharashtra people is still quite possible. They have not go around for job or livelihood. But the situation is changing on superfast speed. agrarian crisis has gripped Maharashtra as well. Indiscriminate industrialisation, urbanisation, SEZ drive, industrial coridors, NIMZ and nuclear power plant clusters have to displace many more people in the state. maharashtra also tends to become yet another Bengal, bihar or Uttar Pradesh, mind you. As most young leaders, Thakre brothers should have the vision of future and behave accordingly.

Fearing reprisals against Maharashtrians residing in northern states due to MNS chief Raj Thackeray's 'agenda of hatred', RPI leader Ramdas Athavale appealed to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to protect Marathis in his state.

Athavale whose party RPI (A) had fought Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, held earlier this year, in alliance with Shiv Sena, said dalit workers will take to streets to protect north Indians in Maharashtra and also the Hindi news channels--who are at the receiving end of Raj's diatribe.

"Maharashtrians who are living in northern states will be in trouble if Raj continues his tirade against north-Indians. I am afraid that there will be retaliation against Marathis and Raj will be responsible for this. I appeal to Nitish Kumar to protect Maharashtrians living in Bihar," Athavale told reporters here.

Demanding reining in the MNS chief, Athavale said the state government must stop him from spreading hatred across states.

Outdoing his cousin Raj, Shiv Sena working president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said that a permit system be implemented for Biharis who want to live and work in Mumbai.

Raj Thackeray had threatened to brand Biharis as "infiltrators" and force them out of Maharashtra if authorities in Bihar take legal action against Mumbai policemen who picked up one Abdul Qadir – in connection with Azad Maidan violence - from Sitamarhi district without informing their counterparts in that state, evoking a sharp rebuff from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Kumar said the action was unjustified as there was a procedure laid down by the union home ministry that the police of a state must inform local police and seek its cooperation for arrest of an accused from other state

However, Uddhav has backed Raj, he said that if the Mumbai police need Bihar government's permission to act then we should implement the permit system for people coming from the state to Mumbai and Maharashtra.

The estranged cousins have come closer over the last few months, especially after Raj was seen by Uddhav's side when the latter was admitted to hospital for a heart surgery.

In an interview to Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna, Uddhav said that instead of questioning Mumbai Police, Nitish Kumar should have congratulated them for their action as the arrest had prevented Qadir from fomenting more trouble in that state.

He also termed Bihar chief secretary's letter to the state government as 'meddling in law and order issues'. Defending city police, he said, "There was no need for the Bihar chief secretary to meddle in the affairs of Mumbai police and he should focus more on his state's administration."

Terming Qaidur as a traitor, Uddhav said, "Even God cannot save this country if political boundaries are going to come in the way of arresting a terrorist from Bihar.

In an interview to the DNA newspaper, Uddhav said that on August 11 Bangladeshis and pro-Pakistan Muslims ran amok over Assam violence.

"The Mumbai Police did a good job by nabbing the accused in Bihar. The Bihar government must have kept quiet or taken a strict stand against violence. However, they got a bout of love for Bihar and warned our policemen," he said.

On the stand taken by Nitish Kumar and Congress leader Digvijay Singh, he said, "These useless people have ruined the country for vote-bank politics. The focus was unnecessarily diverted from Bangladeshis as the perpetrators to (a fight) between Maharashtrians and Biharis. The Bangladeshi infiltrators must be laughing at how two sections of our countrymen are at each others' throats."

The official website of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (www.manase.com) says Raj Thackeray's grandfather, Prabodhankar, was born at Panvel in Raigad district. That's as close to Bombay as it gets. But that is also as close to a lie as can be told.Sujata Anandan,writes in Hindustan Times:

Bal Thackeray's father travelled from Madhya Pradesh to Maharashtra in search of work and at least the Thackeray patriarch made no bones about his origins in his autobiography --- Mazhi Jeevangatha (My Autobiography).

The MNS, to suit its own anti-north Indian agenda, would have us believe that the `Thackeray' family name was actually `Panvelkar'. But Prabodhankar's father wanted his son to call himself `Thakre' because they were originally `jagirdars' (rich landowners) from Dhodap, near Nashik and so were really `Dhodapkars' before they became `Panvelkars' and then `Thakres'. The last, of course, as everyone knows, was modified to `Thackeray' by Prabodhankar who was a great admirer of the India-born British writer, William Makepeace Thackeray.

All of this beggars belief in the absence of historical records to prove the same. Clearly, there is a lot of Bollywood inspiration in this story spun around Prabodhankar, who himself never gave, well, himself any airs. The attempt to convince us that Prabodhankar's father named his son `Thakre' after the `jagir' in Nashik sounds very unoriginal, smacking suspiciously of screen depictions of zamindars with `jagirs', and all named `Thakurs'. As romantic and fanciful as it gets, this seems an attempt, quite lacking in subtlety, to rewrite family history. Even Balasaheb never tried to give himself a background he never had: perhaps, because he knew well enough that even he is not an original `Mumbaikar' (original residents were Koli fishermen).

The family's background is that of Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus (CKP), traditionally a community of scribes (or Kayasthas) whose origin, as is well known, is in Uttar Pradesh from where they travelled all over the country to act as scribes to various kings and rulers (maybe that's why the Thackerays are all writers and cartoonists to this day). In fact, I am told, when the prominent Marathi historian of those times, VK Rajwade, challenged the upper-caste Kshatriya status claimed by the CKPs, Prabodhankar wrote a fierce critique denouncing that theory as casteist. His essay outlined the identity of the CKPs in Maharashtra and their contribution to Chhatrapati Shivaji's empire even before the Kshatriyas of Rajput origin had joined him and Brahmins/Peshwas continued to revile the Maratha warrior king.

In his autobiography, Prabodhnakar was honest enough to admit that he was lower-middle-class (not `landed') and migrated to other cities from Madhya Pradesh, finally settling in Bombay, in search of livelihood – just as hundreds of Biharis and Uttar Pradeshis are doing today.

However, it might not suit Raj to acknowledge his `uttar bharatiya' background as he searches for a new identity towards political gains. But when he first started his anti-north Indian agitation in 2008, Professor Hari Narke, head of the Mahatma Phule Chair at the Pune University, had written in `Rashtrawadi', the Nationalist Congress Party's magazine: "Raj should read the autobiography of his grandfather... Prabodhankar studied in Madhya Pradesh. He has written about how he travelled to other states for livelihood. This proves that the Thackerays, who are not original inhabitants of Mumbai, came to this city in search of a livelihood."

Narke ought to know. After all, he was instrumental in getting Prabodhankar's writings published by the Maharashtra government in 1995, when the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance was in power. "Who gave those who came to Mumbai two generations ago to earn their livelihood, the right to beat up others who also come here in search of jobs?" the professor questioned. "It does not behove people who live 24 hours a day seeped in history to forget the history of just over two generations."

Not surprisingly, there was not a peep out of Raj or any of the other Thackerays against Narke who, obviously, knows his onions. Now, of course, Uddhav Thackeray has also raged against Biharis after Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh's comment that the Thackerays are originally Biharis – but that is just Singh confusing the issue by overstating the fact of the Thackerays' north Indian origins.

So, I believe, Raj Thackeray is doing a great disservice to his own forefathers by his anti-north Indian agitation: clearly there could be a lot of country cousins among his victims. And some of that blood spilt by the MNS could well be traced back to the Thackerays!
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/sujataanandan/For-a-few-votes-more/Article1-924828.aspx
It is quite alarming that India's industrial production barely grew in July, with the anaemic pace of expansion suggesting broader economic activity remains weak and offering little relief to embattled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's as state elections loom.Thakre brothers should have taken notice, I hope.The data is very disappointing as it bodes ill for GDP growth in the current quarter. Worse still, it was the second straight month of manufacturing contraction (down 0.2 percent YoY).The data highlights structural weaknesses of the economy, with poor domestic demand amid political gridlock and contracting exports. It may lead to renewed expectations of a rate cut this month, although we believe that odds still favour the RBI to stay put before cutting in Q4.The data should have a modest negative impact on the INR, equities and lead to some downside for the INR OIS curve.

It is quite intersting that at the outset, the last few weeks' developments in which Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) raised the toll issue and opposed Pakistani artistes performing in India, clearly showed MNS chief Raj Thackeray stealing the show from his cousin, Uddhav, by taking the centre stage.But even before its effectiveness could die down, Raj has appeared to have gone on a complete back foot, thus giving his political rivals as well as sympathisers a chance to question his confused veered politics.

On Sunday, Raj went a mile ahead and shared the dais at a Thane function with those very private players against whom he had raised a revolt, accusing them of seeking high toll from people.

There cannot be any ambiguity that people initially supported the MNS cause on the issue of toll payment. However, the extreme position adopted by the MNS, appealing people to boycott the toll payment without considering the far-fetched ramifications, have exposed the shortsightedness of the leader.

The irony is that othres in Maharashtra politics, dare not to address the real problem. No body dare to speak against monopoly and allow Thakre brothers to continue their crusade against the commoner, who come from other states to eanrn livelihood. After getting flak from leaders of north India for being too 'soft' against MNS chief Raj Thackeray's anti-Bihari diatribes, Maharashtra's law and order machinery attracted criticism from its coalition partner NCP as well.

Meanwhile,a Haryana court on Wednesday directed Hisar police to book MNS chief Raj Thakre in a sedition case for allegedly making provocative statements against migrants from Bihar in Mumbai.
The decision came from the court of Ashwani Mehta, sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM), Hansi, who directed the city police station accordingly, while disposing off the complaint filed by Rajat Kalson, a lawyer.

Mind you,Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray recently took potshots at Hindi news channels and said that he would shut them all down if they did not stop misquoting his speeches.

"People from Hindi channels dole out news without understanding the issue. Such channels should discontinue doing this, otherwise we will do what we can to stop this game," Thackeray declared.

He then joked about how the channels would run "breaking news" about his "threat".

"I am sure these channels will be running "Breaking News"... "Raj Thackeray threatens to shut down Hindi news channels," he said, gesturing wildly with his hands, mocking the news channels.

Speaking about the cases filed against him and the coverage of it in the media, Thackeray claimed that he knew the law.

"Don't issue me threats claiming that you will file (criminal or defamation) cases against me. I know of several laws that are broken every now and then. Should I also go to court and sue those guilty," he questioned.

Lashing out at Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh's remark that Thackeray's family too came originally from Bihar, he said, "Digvijay Singh says anything that comes to his mind, however irrelevant. He is someone the Congress keeps, to take the brunt of all criticism."

Thackeray, in a slapstick manner, retorted to Singh's remark with a question: "So is Digvijay Singh's family from Sulabh Shauchalay (public toilet)?"

Last week, Thackeray had called Biharis in Maharashtra "infiltrators" in reaction to reports of a letter from the Bihar chief secretary warning Mumbai Police against picking up suspects from the state without first informing local police.

"How come most offenders are from Bihar," Thackeray asked, adding that there was no need for Bihari politicians to teach Maharashtra the rules.

Bringing up the matter of the cinema wing of MNS's threat to disrupt shooting of a television programme featuring Pakistani artistes, Thackeray said he did not favour the inclusion of Pakistani performers.

"I stand by my views. It is wrong to entertain Pakistani artistes when we are not welcomed in their country," he said.

Asha Bhonsle is also a part of the show titled "Sur Kshetra" to be aired on Color and Sahara channels.

Last week, when Bhonsle said that she does not understand politics, and that she considers guests like god, Thackeray rebuked the singer saying he wondered if the real reason she participated in the show was "Paisa devo bhava" (Money is god).

MNS chief Raj Thackeray earlier demanded the resignation of Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil at a mass rally called to denounce the Aug 11 violence for which be blamed Bangladeshis. The state government is yet to decide on whether or not MNS chief Raj Thackeray should be hauled up for his "inflammatory speech" at Azad Maidan on August 21. The legal opinion sought by the state government suggests that the MNS chief cannot be prosecuted for his statements.

"Experts who examined Thackeray's speech have told home minister R R Patil that the MNS chief cannot be prosecuted," said a senior home department official.

"He has not threatened anyone, but has warned that his party will not tolerate attacks on policemen and media houses. Thackeray's entire speech will not stand in the court," he added.

According to senior officials, Patil has asked the home department to examine the speech and find a way to rein in Thackeray. "However, the opinion given by experts is not a final recommendation, but the outcome of a preliminary discussion on the entire row," the official added.

On August 11, some Muslim organizations organized a rally against the ethnic violence in Assam. However, a section of the protesters attacked media vans and policemen. Irked with the August 11 mayhem, Thackeray had a held a protest march against the incident on August 21 and blamed Bangladeshis for the arson. He also warned that his party will not tolerate attacks on policemen and media.

Immediately after the incident, home minister R R Patil said action would be taken against the MNS for organizing a march without police permission.

State Congress chief Manikaro Thakre and some leaders demanded stern action against Thackeray for his speeches "against the north Indian community residing in Maharashtra".

Meanwhile, political observers feel the ruling combine is using the MNS to rein in the Sena.

"The Congress is making use of Raj Thackeray to counter the Sena's influence. However, the MNS has grown so strong that the ruling DF government is finding it difficult to frame Raj Thackeray. They may be hesitant in taking action against Raj as it would make him a hero," said an expert.

The show of strength that brought some 50,000 supporters marching to the Azad Maidan - the very site of the earlier violence that left two dead and dozens injured -- defying a police ban.

Speaking in his usual aggressive style, Thackeray warned that similar outbreaks of violence, blamed on Muslim groups who were protesting against attacks on Muslims in Myanmar and Assam, would not be tolerated.

Besides Patil, Thackeray also called for Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik's resignation for failing to foresee the violence of Aug 11 during which mobs attacked police personnel and journalists.

Some policemen were critically injured while there were attempts to molest policewomen. Police officers later said there would have been a bloodbath had they allowed police personnel to open fire at will.

Thackeray flashed what he said was a green colour passport found at the venue Aug 11 purportedly belonging to a Bangladeshi, and said the Aug 11 gathering had many outsiders who dared to attack police and the media.

"This will not be tolerated and limits cannot be crossed. We will not tolerate anybody who dares to take on Maharashtra," he thundered, drawing huge applause.

The MNS founder leader pointed out that many Muslims came prepared for violence that day armed with iron rods, bamboos and stones. He asked both Patil and Patnaik to resign.

"If they have an ounce of shame, they should immediately quit," Thackeray said to widespread applause from the gathering.

But he underlined that the MNS show of strength was not directed against any religious group but was called to express solidarity with the ordinary Marathi policemen and policewomen and the Mumbai media.

He denied that he had a Hindutva agenda.

Thackeray also sought a probe into Raza Academy's record, saying its gatherings usually ended in violence.

He did not spare other politicians including Samajwadi Party state chief Abu Asim Azmi, who he said won elections from two constituencies as these housed many Bangladeshis and Pakistanis.

Thackeray also ridiculed the Republican Party of India (RPI) and other parties for not speaking against the Aug 11 violence.

"Except demanding Indu Mills land, what has (RPI chief) Ramdas Athawale done? Does he want to construct a bungalow there?" he asked sarcastically.

After the speech ended, a policeman in uniform handed Thackeray a rose flower -- to show his appreciation of the MNS leader.

The NCP put chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on the defensive for not taking a tough stand against the MNS chief. These sentiments were echoed during the second meeting of the coordination committee of the two coalition partners on Monday. "With the government keeping quiet, the message that goes out is that it is willing to give Thackeray a free run," said a senior NCP leader.

At the meeting, senior NCP leaders, including deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, state unit chief Madhukar Pichad and union minister Praful Patel, questioned Chavan's 'soft stand'.

Pawar also asked how Thackeray got to lay his hands on vital state documents like the recent letter written by Bihar's chief secretary to Maharashtra government. He said that as Chavan did not respond to Thackeray's antics, it encouraged him to open fronts against north Indians, Pakistani artists and singer Asha Bhosale.

The Congress panel, represented by state party president Manikrao Thakre and in-charge Mohan Prakash, did not shy away from trading charges. It blamed Pawar for constantly interfering in their departments. The Congress leaders accused Pawar of taking decisions at will and without deliberating with other stakeholders.

Recently, the government announced a Rs 50 crore package for Yavatmal, which was affected due to heavy rains. However, when Pawar visited the region and announced the relief package, he took potshots at the CM, Congress members pointed this out at the meeting.

"Similarly, without consulting the agriculture minister, he changed Parbhani Agriculture University's name to Vasantrao Naik University," said a Congress leader, pointing out that the four medical colleges which were approved recently are all in western Maharashtra-NCP stronghold, and none in Vidarbha.

The coordination committee was set up after NCP chief Sharad Pawar threatened to pull out of the UPA government citing lack of coordination. The committee was set up at state level too so that most issues between the two partners could be sorted out through dialogue.

Maharashtra's law and order machinery has come under criticism from leaders of the cow belt for being too soft against Raj Thackeray's latest anti-Bihari diatribes. Now coalition partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) too has pushed chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on the defensive for not taking a tough stand against the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief. These sentiments were echoed during the second meeting of the coordination committee of the two coalition partners on Monday. "With the government keeping quiet, the message that goes out is it is willing to give Raj a free run," said a senior NCP leader.

During the coordination committee meeting senior NCP leaders, including deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, state unit chief Madhukar Pichad and union minister Praful Patel put Chavan in the dock for his 'soft stand'. Pawar went as far as questioning how Thackeray gets to lay his hands on vital state documents, such as the recent letter written by Bihar's chief secretary to Maharashtra government. The NCP leader alleged that since Chavan did not respond to Thackeray's antics, it encouraged him to open fronts against the north Indians, artists from Pakistan and singer Asha Bhosle. The Congress panel was represented by state party president Manikrao Thakre and in-charge Mohan Prakash.

In return the Congress members did not shy away from trading charges and blamed Pawar for constantly interfering in their departments, taking decisions at will without any deliberations from all stakeholders. Recently heavy rains in Yavatmal made the government declared a Rs 50 crore package. However, Pawar visited the affected areas and announced the package seemingly taking potshots at Chavan, angry Congress members pointed out in the meeting. "Similarly, without consulting the agriculture minister he changed the name of Parbhani agriculture university to Vasantrao Naik university," said a Congress leader, who pointed out that four recently approved medical colleges are all for Western Maharashtra, the NCP stronghold and nothing for Vidarbha.

The coordination committee was set up when recently NCP chief Sharad Pawar had threatened to pull out of the UPA government citing lack of coordination. The committee was set up at state level too so that most issues between the two partners could be sorted out through dialogue.

The data, released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Wednesday, showed output at factories, mines and utilities grew an annual 0.1 percent, helped by a recovery in consumer non-durables. That was slightly lower than a forecast of 0.3 percent growth in a poll, but an improvement nonetheless on an annual contraction of 1.8 percent logged in June.

Wednesday's data also provided an insight into the economy's performance in the quarter to end-September. The economy has grown 5.5 percent or less in the last two quarters, a far cry from the 7-8 percent growth seen in the preceding period.

But inflationary worries mean the central bank has resisted lowering interest rates despite the sharp slowdown.

The Reserve Bank of India is widely expected to leave its key lending rates steady when it reviews its monetary policy on Monday, in sharp contrast to many other G20 central banks that have been easing conditions to support growth.

The data highlights structural weaknesses of the economy, with poor domestic demand amid political gridlock and contracting exports, said Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior strategist at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong.

It may lead to renewed expectations of a rate cut this month, although we believe that the odds still favour the RBI to stay put.

Indian markets showed little reaction after the data. India's 10-year benchmark bond yield fell around 1 basis point to 8.18 percent from levels before the data, trading flat from its previous close.

The rupee held on to its earlier gains after the output data, trading at 55.24/25 versus its 55.34/35 close on Tuesday, while India's benchmark BSE stock index also retained its gains, trading up 0.5 percent.

SLOWDOWN STARTING TO BITE

The latest economic report offers little respite for Prime Minister Singh as he struggles to escape the aftermath of corruption scandals that have undermined his authority to push ahead with bold and politically unpalatable economic reforms.

I don't think the Reserve Bank of India would change its stance going by today's factory output reading, said Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at Bank Of Baroda In Mumbai.

India's problems are primarily structural and require structural solutions.

Underlining the challenges facing the government, HSBC on Wednesday downgraded Indian stocks to underweight from neutral, citing the government's lack of progress in fiscal or structural reform as one factor in its decision.

With the economic slowdown beginning to bite India's middle class, Singh faces the uphill task of reviving the economy before his government faces the polls in a series of state elections starting this year and leading up to a general election in 2014.

Manufacturing, which accounts for the bulk of industrial production and contributes about 15 percent to overall GDP, contracted 0.2 percent in July from a year earlier compared with a contraction of 3.1 percent a month ago.

The sector is battling weak demand in both overseas and domestic markets. Annual merchandise exports have fallen in four of the last five months, while domestic car sales posted their first annual decline in 10 months in August.

With the manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) easing to a nine-month low in August, the outlook for the sector does not look promising.

Capital investment in the economy grew a meagre 0.7 percent in the second quarter of 2012 from a year earlier. Capital goods output, a key investment indicator, shrank an annual 5 percent in July. It has grown only once in the past 11 months.

23 Aug, 2012, 12.33PM IST, Nauzer K Bharucha,TNN
Is Raj Thackeray really Mumbai's Dark Knight?

MUMBAI: Moments after Raj Thackeray's rabble-rousing speech at Mumbai's Azad Maidan on Tuesday, a colleague with a tinge of excitement and shock, announced that her mother-in-law supported the fire-brand politician.

Indeed, the chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and estranged nephew of Bal Thackeray struck a chord with not only his Marathi Manoos (sons of the soil) constituency, but surprisingly, even amongst the city's generally indifferent well-heeled class.

The provocation for Raj's rally, which attracted over 40,000 people, was the senseless violence in the city on August 11. A Muslim mob brutally assaulted policemen, molested lady constables, attacked journalists and damaged public property including the Amar Jawan memorial outside the civic headquarters in south Mumbai. Muslim groups had called for a peaceful demonstration to protest "atrocities'' against their brethren in Assam and Myanmar. But a section of the mob went berserk before being quelled by the police.

In a 20-minute speech, the young Thackeray stirred up emotions of the public, lambasting the state's home minister and the city's police commissioner for intelligence failure and the latter's inability to rein in the mob. While many say he channelised the citizens' pent up anger against the August 11 mayhem, the question arises if Raj really is Mumbai's Dark Knight.

Scratch the surface and he emerges as one of the many city-based politicians with huge stakes in the lucrative real estate market. The reason for his political existence may be his avowed love for the Marathi language. But in his avatar as a businessman, money's the language he appears to be most conversant with. In 2005, his company, Matoshree Infrastructure, purchased a prime defunct mill property in the heart of Shivaji Park, for a whopping Rs 421 crore in partnership with the Shiv Sena's former chief minister Manohar Joshi's Kohinoor Group.

Interestingly, barely months after the mill was sold, Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam had called a news conference where he alleged that funds stashed in Madagascar were used to fund the purchase (Joshi later countered the charge, saying it was financed by banks and private investors and threatened to sue Nirupam for defamation).

In 1996, Raj was one of the suspects in the death of a Matunga resident Ramesh Kini. His wife, Shiela had accused Raj of being involved in her husband's death. Kini was found dead outside a cinema theatre in Pune under unexplained circumstances. Though a bottle of acid was found on his person, he had not consumed it. However, an autopsy revealed that he had been severely intoxicated at the time of his death. It was alleged that he was killed by Shiv Sainiks hired by the landlord of his Matunga building and that Raj knew about the murder. The police and CBI later gave him a clean chit.

Tuesday's successful rally may help Raj to consolidate his hold over his core constituency and undercut his uncle's party, the Shiv Sena, from which he broke away some years ago. After all is said and done, Mumbai's future is not in safe hands with demagogues like these.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/is-raj-thackeray-really-mumbais-dark-knight/articleshow/15614288.cms

Sons who soil

Raj Thackeray's anti-Bihari invective, in the same vein as his rant against 'outsiders from north India' at the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena public meeting in August, should surprise no one. After the Bihar police protested at not being taken into confidence in the arrest of an Azad Maidan rioter by the Mumbai police in Sitamarhi, Raj threatened to brand all Biharis as 'infiltrators' and throw them out of Maharashtra if the Bihar government posed any impediments to the investigation. He also demanded registration of all migrants — read people from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar. The call was quickly endorsed by his cousin Uddhav in the Shiv Sena, who revived the demand for a permit system to keep out 'Bangladeshis'. The MNS has got away with worse, beating up students from the north appearing for railway recruitment examinations and Bihari taxi drivers and shopkeepers in Mumbai, apart from pouring vitriol on all migrants. After all, the MNS has learnt its political style from the Shiv Sena. Its portrayal of the Bihari or "bhaiyya" from Uttar Pradesh as dirty and criminal is reminiscent of the way "Madrasis" were once caricatured by the Shiv Sena. While nothing better can be expected from the two Senas bent on capturing the Marathi vote bank, what is inexplicable is the consistently limp response of the ruling coalition in dealing with these threats.

Bal Thackeray's father Keshav Sitaram Thackeray or Prabodhankar, who encouraged his son to form the Shiv Sena, wrote in his autobiography that the family hailed from a place near Nashik. He went to Kolkata for his studies, after which he moved to Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh before arriving in Mumbai, all in search of livelihood. That makes it plain that Prabodhankar was no less a migrant than the tens of thousands arriving in Mumbai every day. India's commercial capital owes much to the sweat and toil of migrants. Over the centuries the city has welcomed them and benefited from them. Both the MNS and Sena should know that without its multi-ethnic workforce drawn from all corners of the country, Mumbai would not be the metropolis it is today. It is the constitutional right of every citizen to travel and live in any part of the country; it is the state's duty to secure this right. Unfortunately, the Congress lacks the gumption to tackle the chauvinism of the Senas. Political expediency might be the reason the Prithviraj Chavan government lets the MNS get away with its provocations, but it can continue to play this game only at great risk to the social and economic fabric of India's biggest metropolis. It is time the Maharashtra government stood up and showed that the state has not withered away.
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article3867176.ece

ndia's Unemployment

            Edit

[show]

India's Unemployment.Edit

India has faced constant problems with their unemployment. Unemployment can be classified as a person unable to find a job even if he or she is completely capable and willing to work. Unemployment in India is described by underemployment (Underemployment occurs when people are not specifically classified as being unemployed, but their work income is very low) or disguised unemployment (unemployment of workers that is not shown on statistics). These are government ideas in order diminish unemployment and solve the problem by giving financial help to the government, businesses, public sector, etc. [1]

Ninth Five Year PlanEdit

One of the main problem of unemployment is India is it does not have the necessary resources to find jobs for such an immense population. According by a national report by 2020 around 716 million people will be without a job. [2] India's government created a Plan called Ninth Five Year Plan which ran through 1997- 2002 in order to increase decrease poverty, increase human development and industrialization. The main objectives of the plan were:

Create liberal Market
Generate employment opportunities
Stabilize prices in order to accelerate economy
Check population increase
Prioritize agriculture and increase rural development
Education, safe drinking water, energy and transport [3]

India's Labor ForceEdit

However, it has fallen short of target. India's labor force is growing at a rate of 2.5 % a year but employment just grows at a rate of 2.3%. In consequence, India has the test of not only absorbing workers to the market, but also clearing the buildup. Around 60% of India's labor force is self-employed which many of them are very poor, 30% are casual workers earning very low wages and just 10% are regular workers. Also around 90% of the workers work in unorganized sectors meaning they do have the privilege of social security or other benefits. [4]

India's Unemployment RateEdit

The rate of India's unemployment this year has decreased this year from 8% to7%. Nevertheless, it is important to recognize that is very difficult to measure the unemployment in India due to the high levels of disguised unemployment [5]

Year...Unemployment rate...Rank.....Percent Change....Date of Information
2003................8.80 %.........110...........................................2002
2004................9.50 %.........105..............7.95 %..................2003
2005................9.20 %..........83.............-3.16 %...............2004 est.
2006................8.90 %..........91.............-3.26 %...............2005 est.
2007................7.80 %..........92............-12.36 %..............2006 est.
2008................7.20 %..........86.............-7.69 %...............2007 est.

Index Mundi [6]

Outsorcing ServicesEdit

India has become one of the best places in the world for Provide Outsourcing Services in IT companies. Companies are now developing the latest technology in order to provide improved outsourcing services. The job pays very well but it is extremely demanding, it is a 24-7 work environment. However, it has help in order to provide an incredible source of employment. Many international businesses maintain the outsourcing process in India such as customer call services in order to keep the cost down during business. [7]

Causes of UnemploymentEdit

Various situations have caused the problem of unemployment in India. Some of them are:

Age
Vocational unfitness and physical disabilities
Enormous increase in the population
Often bad companies close their door making employed people unemployed
The increase of technology and computerization casing problems on job opportunities

Some of the remedies in order to solve unemployment in India are:

Augmentation of productivity and income of the poor and the creation of opportunities for self-employed [8]

Works CitedEdit

http://internationalbusiness.wikia.com/wiki/India%27s_Unemployment

Marathi nationalism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Marathi nationalism refers to a nationalist stance applied to Maharashtra and the Indo-Aryan ethnic Marathi people who inhabit the ethno-linguistic region of Maharashtra,^[1] which was created after the linguistic reorganization of provinces in India in 1956. Samarth Ramdas is considered as the Spiritual Father of Maratha nationalism and Shivaji was its political promoter.^[2] Hindavi Swarajya was an ideology espoused by Shivaji to consolidate Maratha empire by piecing together several marathi speaking Deccan kingdoms^{[citation needed]}. The defence of culture, country and religion were the war cry used by Shivaji to rally together Marathi Hindus.^[3]^[4] One of the famous saying of Shivaji was "This is not a kingdom of Shivaji; it belongs to Dharma" ^[5] MAHA (महा, Great) RASHTRA (राष्ट्र, Country/State) is generally associated with a desire for greater, better and progressive state. The defence of Maratha culture, religion, country and freedom to the Marathas is what inspired the Maratha warriors in defeating Sultanate of Bijapur and Mughal Empire and free the marathas and there land from occupation and creation of the Maratha Empire.^{[citation needed]} In modern context, it furthers the ideology of preservation of maratha culture, promotion of marathi language and progress of marathi people. Mee Marathi (मी मराठी, I am Marathi ) are two words that have always inculcated Marathi pride.^{[citation needed]}

History

The first strands of a modern Marathi nationalism were elucidated at least as early as the beginning of the twentieth century^{[citation needed]}. However, Lokmanya Tilak merged this with a contemporaneously emerging pan-Indian nationalism during the build-up period to the Indian independence movement.^[6]

Movement for Maharashtra State

Main article: Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti

After the Independence of India in 1947, regional administrative divisions from the colonial era were gradually changed and states following linguistic borders were created. The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 created states along linguistic lines. States of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala were created on 1 November 1956 for Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam languages respectively. However, despite being the fourth largest spoken language in India, no Marathi-speaking state was created. Bombay Presidency remained a bi-lingual state shared by Marathis and Gujaratis. Marathi-speaking population remained divided between the Bombay Presidency and regions of Hyderabad State. Moreover, the Marathi-majority district of Belgaum was removed from Bombay Presidency and added to the newly formed Kannada-speaking state of Karnataka, which remains a disputed issue till date.

A massive popular struggle was launched for the creation of a state for the Marathi-speaking people under the name Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti (roughly translated as United Maharashtra Committee). The Gujarati politicians of Bombay Presidency demanded that in case of a separation, the city of Bombay (now Mumbai), a Marathi-majority area and the economic capital of India, should be transferred to Gujarat. In January 1960, a peaceful demonstration of the Samiti was fired by the police at Flora Fountain in Mumbai, on the order of the Gurarati Chief Minister of Bombay Presidency, Morarji Desai. 105 people were killed in the firing. This subsequently led to the division of the presidency into two linguistic states, and two states of Gujarat and Maharashtra were formed on 1 May 1960. Bombay (now Mumbai) was included in Maharashtra and became the state capital.^[7] In addition, Marathi-speaking regions of Hyderabad State were amalgamated with Maharashtra, making it the third largest state in India. Flora Fountain was subsequently renamed Hutatma Chowk or "Martyr's Crossroads" in the memory of the demonstrators who were killed.

However, Goa (then a Portuguese colony), Belgaum, Karwar and adjoining areas, which were also part of the Maharashtra envisaged by the Samiti, were not included in Maharashtra state. Inclusion of Belgaum into Maharashtra remains an unresolved dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Rallying points

Modern-day Marathi nationalism has found an idealogue in the Hindu Maratha Empire, an independent Maratha nation established by Maratha warrior and King Shivaji Bhosle after he defeated the Sultanate of Bijapur to free the Marathas and there land from occupation. Shivaji's call for freedom and to fight and live like free men was an inspiration to the marathi people which not only help protect the Maratha Kingdom from the Mughal Empire but also led to the expanision of the Maratha Kingdom into Maratha Empire by capturing non-maratha parts of the Mughal Empire.^{[original research?]}

Support for Marathi nationalism from non-Marathi people

MN Singh, Mahesh Bhatt and Alyque Padamsee have said there is some legitimate grievance to give credence to some form of a Marathi nationalism. Padamsee thought that a "Marathi manoos is a good idea" as "nobody has given any importance to the language." Singh added that the political parties which bank on the support of the Marathi manoos do so rightly so "as they has been able to protect the interests of the Marathi-speaking population in the state." He added that "Maharashtrians have a justified grievance. Outsiders have not been able to identify with Marathi culture. Bhatt chipped in that he supports, in addition to the Marathi manoos "the whole Marathi culture, the Maratha pride." Adding that "in the age of globalisation, that this culture is being overwhelmed. Let me give you an example: This city has been the source for thousands of Bollywood films, but does anyone bother for the indigenous people, the local people of Film City, who are suffering?"^[8]

Contemporary sub-nationalism

In the past few decades, Mumbai and sometimes larger Maharashtra have witnessed a growing resentment towards South Indians and recently towards migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. There is also a recent movement towards compulsory use of Marathi language in Mumbai in places including the Municipal Corporation. This "Maharashtra for the Marathis" sub-nationalism or regionalism^[9] has been condemned by mainstream political parties such as Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan has assured protection for both North and South Indian immigrants.^[10]^[11] Much of such trouble has been created by the concept of Three language in Govt. of India. Three Language concept says that all offices of Govt. of India have to use Hindi, English and any other regional language. Regional languages are encouraged but at the same time use of Hindi and English is imposed on workers forcing them to learn additional languages. Class-iV workers find it difficult to learn additional languages while they can work efficiently in mother tongue Marathi. At one point Marathi and Hindi share same grammar rules as they are derived from same ancestral language Sanskrit .^[12] And one who knows Hindi can easily learn Marathi and vice-versa. This language war has been exploited several times and is used by several political parties to gain some easy hold on citizens and eventually hold on vote bank. For several years now, even use of English is opposed by mainstream Marathi nationalists which is always opposed by English speaking non-Marathi states.^[13]

Support for Marathi Workers

Mumbai, in many ways is an economic capital of India. In early 60's there was a increasing flow of South Indian white-collar job seeker migrants to the Mumbai city.^[14] In 1960 Bal Thackeray, a Mumbai-based cartoonist, began publishing the satirical cartoon weekly Marmik. Through this publication he started disseminating anti-migrant sentiments in support of local marathi workers. On June 19, 1966, Thackeray founded the Shiv Sena as a political organisation. At the time of its foundation, the Shiv Sena was not a political party as such.^[15] The political approach of the Shiv Sena was centred around the concept of bhumiputra (sons of the soil), the idea that Maharashtra inherently belonged to the Marathi community. The Shiv Sena was thus born out of a feeling of resentment about the relative marginilization of the native Marathi people in their own state by people whom they perceived as outsiders.^[16]

Shiv Sena set out ideological declarations which encouraged Maharashtrians not to eat in Udupi restaurants, not to sell their properties to non-Maharashtrians and Marathi businessmen employ only Marathis.^[17] The Shiv Sena especially attracted a large number of Marathi youth. Shiv Sena cadres became involved in various attacks against the South Indian communities, vandalising South Indian restaurants and pressuring employers to hire Marathis.^[18]

Anti-Migrant Sentiments

Attacks on South Indian migrated workers

Shiv Sena party was formed in 1966 to fight for the rights of the marathi people. Thackeray started his political life by intimidating and sometimes attacking South Indians who worked as clerks and owned small restaurants as they were taking away local jobs.^[19]^[20] South Indians were derisively referred to as yandugunduwalas and lunghiwalas.^[21]^[22]

South Indians were his main targets as he claimed that they were taking away jobs from Marathis. He lampooned "Madrassi" in his writings and drawings. Udupi restaurants and homes of Tamil and Telugu speakers were attacked.^[23]

However other political parties in the state have been more conciliatory in their approach towards South Indians.^[24]

Attack on migrated workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar

Main article: 2008 attacks on Uttar Pradesh and Bihar migrants in Maharashtra

The attacks on immigrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in Maharashtra began on February 3, 2008 after violent clashes between workers of two political parties—Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Samajwadi Party (SP)—at Dadar in Mumbai, capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The clashes took place when workers of MNS, a splinter faction formed out of the Shiv Sena] (a major political party of Maharashtra), tried to attack workers of SP, the regional party based in Uttar Pradesh, who were proceeding to attend a rally organised by the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA). Defending his party's stand, MNS chief Raj Thackeray explained that the attack was a reaction to the "provocative and unnecessary show of strength" and "uncontrolled political and cultural dadagiri (bullying) of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar migrants and their leaders".

Promotion of Marathi and Anti-English Sentiments

In a growing movement towards promoting Marathi in public life in Mumbai, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai headed by BJP-Shiv Sena alliance passed an order to make all communications only in Marathi. Marathi has been an official language in the corporation since 1971, however English and Hindi were used for distribution of information.^[25]^[26]^[27] After his campaign against north Indians, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on 14 July 2008 asked English medium schools in the state to make Marathi a compulsory subject from first standard and shopowners to put up nameplates in Marathi.^[28] On 27 August 2008 around 50 activists of MNS were arrested in south Mumbai for forcing shopowners to put up Marathi nameplates instead of English signboards . Despite the arrest of the activists, MNS spokesperson Shirish Parkar warned that the protest will continue and that the deadline of August 28 will not change.^[29]

References

^ Benei 2008:80
^ Hinduism and Islam in India: caste, religion, and society from antiquity to By S. V. Desika Char, p 225
^ Soul and Structure of Governance in India, Jagmohan, p295, Google book
^ Sanskrit and Prakrit, Madhav M. Deshpande, p121-122, Google book
^ Hinduism and Islam in India: caste, religion, and society from antiquity to By S. V. Desika Char, p 225-227
^ [1]^{[dead link]}
^ S Balakrishnan, TNN, Nov 29, 2005, 01.39am IST (2005-11-29). "Sena fate: From roar to meow". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
^ "India's Independent Weekly News Magazine". Tehelka. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
^ State Politics in India By Babulal Fadia, p496, ref
^ Agencies. "BJP won't allow regionalism to flourish:Rajnath". Expressindia.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
^ "Stand together against regionalism: Sonia". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
^ "Languages Of India". Bookofindia.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
^ "Following The Beaten Path". Thaindian.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
^ "Sena fate: From roar to meow". The Times of India. 2005-11-29. Retrieved 2006-08-11.
^ Shiv Sena Shakha no. 111
^ "Shiv Sena On The Threshold Of Disintegration". The Indian Express via www.countercurrent.org. Retrieved 2006-07-22.
^ Babulal Fadia (1984). State politics in India Volume I. Radiant publishers, New Delhi. pp. 496–497.
^ "Know Your Party: Shiv Sena". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2006-07-22.
^ "Profile: Bombay's militant voice". BBC News. 2000-07-19. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
^ "Politicians, patriotism and pettiness". Rediff.com. 1999-07-15. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
^ "'The General' in his labyrinth". Hinduonnet.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
^ "Know your party:Shiv Sena". In.rediff.com. 2004-04-23. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
^ Ramachandra Guha, India after Gandhi, p 430
^ "Narayan Rane to support South Indians in Mumbai politics". News.webindia123.com. 2007-10-30. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
^ "Politics & Marathi language: New lingua franca at BMC". Dnaindia.com. 2008-06-25. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
^ TNN, Jul 6, 2008, 05.47am IST (2008-07-06). "Marathi-must muddle at BMC". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
^ Shweta Desai (2008-07-16). "Weeks after BMC made Marathi compulsory, 3 Cong corporators continue to get copies in English". Expressindia.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
^ PTI, Jul 14, 2008, 08.30pm IST (2008-07-14). "Make Marathi compulsory in schools: Raj Thackeray". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
^ PTI, Aug 26, 2008, 06.57pm IST (2008-08-26). "Mumbai: 50 MNS men arrested". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.

Notes

Benei, Veronique (2008). Schooling passions nation, history, and language in contemporary western India. Stanford University Press.

External links

Behind the Thackeray phenomenon

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Ethnic nationalism

Internal displacement in India: causes, protection and dilemmas

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Unemployment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For payments paid to unemployed people, see unemployment benefits.

Unemployed men outside a soup kitchen in Chicago, 1931

Unemployment (or joblessness) occurs when people are without jobs yet have actively sought work.^[1] The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment and it is calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed individuals by all individuals currently in the labor force. During periods of recession, an economy usually experiences a relatively high unemployment rate.^[2] In a 2011 news story, BusinessWeek reported, "More than 200 million people globally are out of work, a record high, as almost two-thirds of advanced economies and half of developing countries are experiencing a slowdown in employment growth".^[3]

There remains considerable theoretical debate regarding the causes, consequences and solutions for unemployment. Classical economics, neoclassical economics, and the Austrian School of economics argue that market mechanisms are reliable means of resolving unemployment.^{[citation needed]} These theories argue against interventions imposed on the labour market from the outside, such as unionization, minimum wage laws, taxes, and other regulations that they claim discourage the hiring of workers. Keynesian economics emphasizes the cyclical nature of unemployment and recommends interventions it claims will reduce unemployment during recessions. This theory focuses on recurrent supply shocks that suddenly reduce aggregate demand for goods and services and thus reduce demand for workers. Keynesian models recommend government interventions designed to increase demand for workers; these can include financial stimuli, publicly funded job creation, and expansionist monetary policies. Georgists, half a century before Keynes, also noted the cyclical nature but focused on the role of speculation in land which pushes up economic rent. Economic activity cannot be sustained in the rent bubble because rent must be paid mostly from wages (yield of labor) as well as from interest (yield of capital). Once the speculation is wrung out of system the cycle of land speculation begins again.^[4] Henry George therefore advocated the taxation of land values (Single Tax) to stop land speculation and in order to eliminate taxation of labor and capital. George opposed land nationalization and Marx's theories. Marxism focuses on the relations between the owners and the workers, whom, it claims, the owners pit against one another in a constant struggle for jobs and higher wages. The unemployment produced by this struggle is said to benefit the system by reducing wage costs for the owners. For Marxists the causes of and solutions to unemployment require abolishing capitalism and shifting to socialism or communism.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to these three comprehensive theories of unemployment, there are a few categorizations of unemployment that are used to more precisely model the effects of unemployment within the economic system. The main types of unemployment include structural unemployment which focuses on structural problems in the economy and inefficiencies inherent in labour markets including a mismatch between the supply and demand of laborers with necessary skill sets. Structural arguments emphasize causes and solutions related to disruptive technologies and globalization. Discussions of frictional unemployment focus on voluntary decisions to work based on each individuals' valuation of their own work and how that compares to current wage rates plus the time and effort required to find a job. Causes and solutions for frictional unemployment often address barriers to entry and wage rates. Behavioral economists highlight individual biases in decision making and often involve problems and solutions concerning sticky wages and efficiency wages.

Average annual growth in U.S. payroll employment, by top income tax bracket rate, 1950-2010^[5]

Definitions, types, and theories

Economists distinguish between various overlapping types of and theories of unemployment, including cyclical or Keynesian unemployment, frictional unemployment, structural unemployment and classical unemployment.^[6] Some additional types of unemployment that are occasionally mentioned are seasonal unemployment, hardcore unemployment, and hidden unemployment. The U.S. BLS measures six types of unemployment, U1–U6. A recent alternative classification is into obstructional, developmental, and contractional unemployment.^[7]

Though there have been several definitions of voluntary and involuntary unemployment in the economics literature, a simple distinction is often applied. Voluntary unemployment is attributed to the individual's decisions, whereas involuntary unemployment exists because of the socio-economic environment (including the market structure, government intervention, and the level of aggregate demand) in which individuals operate. In these terms, much or most of frictional unemployment is voluntary, since it reflects individual search behavior. Voluntary unemployment includes workers who reject low wage jobs whereas involuntary unemployment includes workers fired due to an economic crisis, industrial decline, company bankruptcy, or organizational restructuring.

On the other hand, cyclical unemployment, structural unemployment, and classical unemployment are largely involuntary in nature. However, the existence of structural unemployment may reflect choices made by the unemployed in the past, while classical (natural) unemployment may result from the legislative and economic choices made by labour unions or political parties. So, in practice, the distinction between voluntary and involuntary unemployment is hard to draw. The clearest cases of involuntary unemployment are those where there are fewer job vacancies than unemployed workers even when wages are allowed to adjust, so that even if all vacancies were to be filled, some unemployed workers would still remain. This happens with cyclical unemployment, as macroeconomic forces cause microeconomic unemployment which can boomerang back and exacerbate these macroeconomic forces.

Classical unemployment

Classical or real-wage unemployment occurs when real wages for a job are set above the market-clearing level, causing the number of job-seekers to exceed the number of vacancies.

Many economists have argued that unemployment increases the more the government intervenes into the economy to try to improve the conditions of those without jobs.^{[citation needed]} For example, minimum wage laws raise the cost of laborers with few skills to above the market equilibrium, resulting in people who wish to work at the going rate but cannot as wage enforced is greater than their value as workers becoming unemployed.^[8]^[9] Laws restricting layoffs made businesses less likely to hire in the first place, as hiring becomes more risky, leaving many young people unemployed and unable to find work.^[9]

However, this argument is criticized for ignoring numerous external factors and overly simplifying the relationship between wage rates and unemployment — in other words, that other factors may also affect unemployment.^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14] Some, such as Murray Rothbard,^[15] suggest that even social taboos can prevent wages from falling to the market clearing level.

It should be noted that market equilibrium is not without its consequences and compromises. For example, repairmen in a city can initially have a monthly wage of 3,000$. At this salary, the appliance stores of the city can hire 100 repairmen. However, there are 300 repairmen looking for jobs. 200 of these repairmen are left unemployed and the job market loses its equilibrium. To regain it, the wage is dropped to 1,000$ and the stores open the job market to 100 more repairmen. Only 100 of the 200 unemployed repairmen are willing to accept the reduced salary, so the applicant/vacancy ratio reaches equilibrium. The consequence is that 100 people are left unemployed and employees must cope with reduced wages.

In Out of Work: Unemployment and Government in the Twentieth-Century America, economists Richard Vedder and Lowell Gallaway argue that the empirical record of wages rates, productivity, and unemployment in American validates the classical unemployment theory. Their data shows a strong correlation between the adjusted real wage and unemployment in the United States from 1900 to 1990. However, they maintain that their data does not take into account exogenous events.^[16]

Cyclical unemployment

The IS-LM Model is used to analyze the effect of demand shocks on the economy.

Cyclical or Keynesian unemployment, also known as deficient-demand unemployment, occurs when there is not enough aggregate demand in the economy to provide jobs for everyone who wants to work. Demand for most goods and services falls, less production is needed and consequently fewer workers are needed, wages are sticky and do not fall to meet the equilibrium level, and mass unemployment results.^[17] Its name is derived from the frequent shifts in the business cycle although unemployment can also be persistent as occurred during the Great Depression of the 1930s. With cyclical unemployment, the number of unemployed workers exceeds the number of job vacancies, so that even if full employment were attained and all open jobs were filled, some workers would still remain unemployed. Some associate cyclical unemployment with frictional unemployment because the factors that cause the friction are partially caused by cyclical variables. For example, a surprise decrease in the money supply may shock rational economic factors and suddenly inhibit aggregate demand.

Classical economists reject the conception of cyclical unemployment and alternatively suggest that the invisible hand of free markets will respond quickly to unemployment and underutilization of resources by a fall in wages followed by a rise in employment. Similarly, Hayek and others from the Austrian school of economics argue that if governments intervene through monetary policy to lower interest rates this will exacerbate unemployment by preventing the market from responding effectively.^[18]

Keynesian economists on the other hand see the lack of demand for jobs as potentially resolvable by government intervention. One suggested interventions involves deficit spending to boost employment and demand. Another intervention involves an expansionary monetary policy that increases the demand of money which should reduce interest rates which should lead to an increase in non-governmental spending.^[19]

Marxian theory of unemployment

It is in the very nature of the capitalist mode of production to overwork some workers while keeping the rest as a reserve army of unemployed paupers.

— Marx, Theory of Surplus Value, ^[20]

According to Karl Marx, unemployment is inherent within the unstable capitalist system and periodic crises of mass unemployment are to be expected. The function of the proletariat within the capitalist system is to provide a "reserve army of labour" that creates downward pressure on wages. This is accomplished by dividing the proletariat into surplus labour (employees) and under-employment (unemployed).^[21] This reserve army of labour fight among themselves for scarce jobs at lower and lower wages. At first glance, unemployment seems inefficient since unemployed workers do not increase profits. However, unemployment is profitable within the global capitalist system because unemployment lowers wages which are costs from the perspective of the owners. From this perspective low wages benefit the system by reducing economic rents. Yet, it does not benefit workers. Capitalist systems unfairly manipulate the market for labour by perpetuating unemployment which lowers laborers' demands for fair wages. Workers are pitted against one another at the service of increasing profits for owners.

According to Marx, the only way to permanently eliminate unemployment would be to abolish capitalism and the system of forced competition for wages and then shift to a socialist or communist economic system. For contemporary Marxists, the existence of persistent unemployment is proof of the inability of capitalism to ensure full employment.^[22]

Involuntary unemployment

In The General Theory, Keynes argued that neo-classical economic theory did not apply during recessions because of excessive savings and weak private investment in an economy. In consequence, people could be thrown out of work involuntarily and not be able to find acceptable new employment.

This conflict between the neoclassical and Keynesian theories has had strong influence on government policy. The tendency for government is to curtail and eliminate unemployment through increases in benefits and government jobs, and to encourage the job-seeker to both consider new careers and relocation to another city.

Involuntary unemployment does not exist in agrarian societies nor is it formally recognized to exist in underdeveloped but urban societies, such as the mega-cities of Africa and of India/Pakistan. In such societies, a suddenly unemployed person must meet their survival needs either by getting a new job at any price, becoming an entrepreneur, or joining the underground economy of the hustler.^[23]

Involuntary unemployment is discussed from the narrative standpoint in stories, and novels of social suffering.

Full employment

Main article: Full employment

Short-Run Phillips Curve before and after Expansionary Policy, with Long-Run Phillips Curve (NAIRU)

In demand-based theory, it is possible to abolish cyclical unemployment by increasing the aggregate demand for products and workers. However, eventually the economy hits an "inflation barrier" imposed by the four other kinds of unemployment to the extent that they exist.

Some demand theory economists see the inflation barrier as corresponding to the natural rate of unemployment. The "natural" rate of unemployment is defined as the rate of unemployment that exists when the labour market is in equilibrium and there is pressure for neither rising inflation rates nor falling inflation rates. An alternative technical term for this rate is the NAIRU or the Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment.

No matter what its name, demand theory holds that this means that if the unemployment rate gets "too low," inflation will get worse and worse (accelerate) in the absence of wage and price controls (incomes policies).

One of the major problems with the NAIRU theory is that no one knows exactly what the NAIRU is (while it clearly changes over time). The margin of error can be quite high relative to the actual unemployment rate, making it hard to use the NAIRU in policy-making.

Another, normative, definition of full employment might be called the ideal unemployment rate. It would exclude all types of unemployment that represent forms of inefficiency. This type of "full employment" unemployment would correspond to only frictional unemployment (excluding that part encouraging the McJobs management strategy) and would thus be very low. However, it would be impossible to attain this full-employment target using only demand-side Keynesian stimulus without getting below the NAIRU and suffering from accelerating inflation (absent incomes policies). Training programs aimed at fighting structural unemployment would help here.

To the extent that hidden unemployment exists, it implies that official unemployment statistics provide a poor guide to what unemployment rate coincides with "full employment".

Structural unemployment

Main article: Structural unemployment

Okun's Law interprets unemployment as a function of growth in GDP

"Driver looking for work" Unemployed German laborer in 1949

Structural unemployment occurs when a labour market is unable to provide jobs for everyone who wants one because there is a mismatch between the skills of the unemployed workers and the skills needed for the available jobs. Structural unemployment is hard to separate empirically from frictional unemployment, except to say that it lasts longer. As with frictional unemployment, simple demand-side stimulus will not work to easily abolish this type of unemployment.

Structural unemployment may also be encouraged to rise by persistent cyclical unemployment: if an economy suffers from long-lasting low aggregate demand, it means that many of the unemployed become disheartened, while their skills (including job-searching skills) become "rusty" and obsolete. Problems with debt may lead to homelessness and a fall into the vicious circle of poverty. This means that they may not fit the job vacancies that are created when the economy recovers. Some economists see this scenario as occurring under British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during the 1970s and 1980s. The implication is that sustained high demand may lower structural unemployment. This theory of persistence in structural unemployment has been referred to as an example of path dependence or "hysteresis".

Much technological unemployment,^[24] due to the replacement of workers by machines, might be counted as structural unemployment. Alternatively, technological unemployment might refer to the way in which steady increases in labour productivity mean that fewer workers are needed to produce the same level of output every year. The fact that aggregate demand can be raised to deal with this problem suggests that this problem is instead one of cyclical unemployment. As indicated by Okun's Law, the demand side must grow sufficiently quickly to absorb not only the growing labour force but also the workers made redundant by increased labour productivity.

Seasonal unemployment may be seen as a kind of structural unemployment, since it is a type of unemployment that is linked to certain kinds of jobs (construction work, migratory farm work). The most-cited official unemployment measures erase this kind of unemployment from the statistics using "seasonal adjustment" techniques. The resulting in substantial, permanent structural unemployment.

Frictional unemployment

Beveridge curve of 2004 job vacancy and unemployment rate from the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics

Main article: Frictional unemployment

Frictional unemployment is the time period between jobs when a worker is searching for, or transitioning from one job to another. It is sometimes called search unemployment and can be voluntary based on the circumstances of the unemployed individual. Frictional unemployment is always present in an economy, so the level of involuntary unemployment is properly the unemployment rate minus the rate of frictional unemployment, which means that increases or decreases in unemployment are normally under-represented in the simple statistics.^[25]

Frictional unemployment exists because both jobs and workers are heterogeneous, and a mismatch can result between the characteristics of supply and demand. Such a mismatch can be related to skills, payment, work-time, location, seasonal industries, attitude, taste, and a multitude of other factors. New entrants (such as graduating students) and re-entrants (such as former homemakers) can also suffer a spell of frictional unemployment. Workers as well as employers accept a certain level of imperfection, risk or compromise, but usually not right away; they will invest some time and effort to find a better match. This is in fact beneficial to the economy since it results in a better allocation of resources. However, if the search takes too long and mismatches are too frequent, the economy suffers, since some work will not get done. Therefore, governments will seek ways to reduce unnecessary frictional unemployment through multiple means including providing education, advice, training, and assistance such as daycare centers.

The frictions in the labour market are sometimes illustrated graphically with a Beveridge curve, a downward-sloping, convex curve that shows a correlation between the unemployment rate on one axis and the vacancy rate on the other. Changes in the supply of or demand for labour cause movements along this curve. An increase (decrease) in labour market frictions will shift the curve outwards (inwards).

Hidden unemployment

Hidden, or covered, unemployment is the unemployment of potential workers that is not reflected in official unemployment statistics, due to the way the statistics are collected. In many countries only those who have no work but are actively looking for work (and/or qualifying for social security benefits) are counted as unemployed. Those who have given up looking for work (and sometimes those who are on Government "retraining" programs) are not officially counted among the unemployed, even though they are not employed. The same applies to those who have taken early retirement to avoid being laid off, but would prefer to be working. The statistic also does not count the "underemployed" — those working fewer hours than they would prefer or in a job that doesn't make good use of their capabilities. In addition, those who are of working age but are currently in full-time education are usually not considered unemployed in government statistics. Traditional unemployed native societies who survive by gathering, hunting, herding, and farming in wilderness areas, may or may not be counted in unemployment statitics. Official statistics often underestimate unemployment rates because of hidden unemployment.

United States mean duration of unemployment (1950-2010)

Long-term unemployment

This is normally defined, for instance in European Union statistics, as unemployment lasting for longer than one year. It is an important indicator of social exclusion. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports this as 27 weeks or longer. Long-term unemployment can result in older workers taking early retirement; in the United States, taking reduced social security benefits at age 62.^[26]

Measurement

There are also different ways national statistical agencies measure unemployment. These differences may limit the validity of international comparisons of unemployment data.^[27] To some degree these differences remain despite national statistical agencies increasingly adopting the definition of unemployment by the International Labour Organization.^[28] To facilitate international comparisons, some organizations, such as the OECD, Eurostat, and International Labor Comparisons Program, adjust data on unemployment for comparability across countries.

Though many people care about the number of unemployed individuals, economists typically focus on the unemployment rate. This corrects for the normal increase in the number of people employed due to increases in population and increases in the labour force relative to the population. The unemployment rate is expressed as a percentage, and is calculated as follows:

$\text{Unemployment rate}=\frac{\text{Unemployed workers}}{\text{Total labour force}}$

As defined by the International Labour Organization, "unemployed workers" are those who are currently not working but are willing and able to work for pay, currently available to work, and have actively searched for work.^[29] Individuals who are actively seeking job placement must make the effort to: be in contact with an employer, have job interviews, contact job placement agencies, send out resumes, submit applications, respond to advertisements, or some other means of active job searching within the prior four weeks. Simply looking at advertisements and not responding will not count as actively seeking job placement. Since not all unemployment may be "open" and counted by government agencies, official statistics on unemployment may not be accurate.^[30]

The ILO describes 4 different methods to calculate the unemployment rate:^[31]

Labour Force Sample Surveys are the most preferred method of unemployment rate calculation since they give the most comprehensive results and enables calculation of unemployment by different group categories such as race and gender. This method is the most internationally comparable.
Official Estimates are determined by a combination of information from one or more of the other three methods. The use of this method has been declining in favor of Labour Surveys.
Social Insurance Statistics such as unemployment benefits, are computed base on the number of persons insured representing the total labour force and the number of persons who are insured that are collecting benefits. This method has been heavily criticized due to the expiration of benefits before the person finds work.
Employment Office Statistics are the least effective being that they only include a monthly tally of unemployed persons who enter employment offices. This method also includes unemployed who are not unemployed per the ILO definition.

The primary measure of unemployment, U3, allows for comparisons between countries. Unemployment differs from country to country and across different time periods. For example, during the 1990s and 2000s, the United States had lower unemployment levels than many countries in the European Union,^[32] which had significant internal variation, with countries like the UK and Denmark outperforming Italy and France. However, large economic events such as the Great Depression can lead to similar unemployment rates across the globe.

European Union (Eurostat)

Unemployment in the regions of the European Union in 2010, according to Eurostat.

Unemployment rates from 1993-2009 for United States and European Union.

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, defines unemployed as those persons age 15 to 74 who are not working, have looked for work in the last four weeks, and ready to start work within two weeks, which conform to ILO standards. Both the actual count and rate of unemployment are reported. Statistical data are available by member state, for the European Union as a whole (EU27) as well as for the euro area (EA16). Eurostat also includes a long-term unemployment rate. This is defined as part of the unemployed who have been unemployed for an excess of 1 year.^[33]

The main source used is the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS). The EU-LFS collects data on all member states each quarter. For monthly calculations, national surveys or national registers from employment offices are used in conjunction with quarterly EU-LFS data. The exact calculation for individual countries, resulting in harmonized monthly data, depend on the availability of the data.^[34]

United States Bureau of Labor Statistics

Unemployment rate in the U.S. by county in 2008.^[35]

1.2–3%

3.1–4%

4.1–5%

5.1–6%

6.1–7%

7.1–8%

8.1–9%

9.1–10%

10.1–11%

11.1–13%

13.1–22.9%

The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures employment and unemployment (of those over 15 years of age) using two different labour force surveys^[36] conducted by the United States Census Bureau (within the United States Department of Commerce) and/or the Bureau of Labor Statistics (within the United States Department of Labor) that gather employment statistics monthly. The Current Population Survey (CPS), or "Household Survey", conducts a survey based on a sample of 60,000 households. This Survey measures the unemployment rate based on the ILO definition.^[37] The Current Employment Statistics survey (CES), or "Payroll Survey", conducts a survey based on a sample of 160,000 businesses and government agencies that represent 400,000 individual employers.^[38] This survey measures only nonagricultural, nonsupervisory employment; thus, it does not calculate an unemployment rate, and it differs from the ILO unemployment rate definition. These two sources have different classification criteria, and usually produce differing results. Additional data are also available from the government, such as the unemployment insurance weekly claims report available from the Office of Workforce Security, within the U.S. Department of Labor Employment & Training Administration.^[39] The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides up-to-date numbers via a PDF linked here.^[40] The BLS also provides a readable concise current Employment Situation Summary, updated monthly.^[41]

U1–U6 from 1950–2010, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Bureau of Labor Statistics also calculates six alternate measures of unemployment, U1 through U6, that measure different aspects of unemployment:^[42]

U1:^[43] Percentage of labor force unemployed 15 weeks or longer.
U2: Percentage of labor force who lost jobs or completed temporary work.
U3: Official unemployment rate per the ILO definition occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively looked for work within the past four weeks.^[1]
U4: U3 + "discouraged workers", or those who have stopped looking for work because current economic conditions make them believe that no work is available for them.

U5: U4 + other "marginally attached workers", or "loosely attached workers", or those who "would like" and are able to work, but have not looked for work recently.
U6: U5 + Part-time workers who want to work full-time, but cannot due to economic reasons (underemployment).

Note: "Marginally attached workers" are added to the total labour force for unemployment rate calculation for U4, U5, and U6. The BLS revised the CPS in 1994 and among the changes the measure representing the official unemployment rate was renamed U3 instead of U5.^[44]

Statistics for the U.S. economy as a whole hide variations among groups. For example, in January 2008 U.S. unemployment rates were 4.4% for adult men, 4.2% for adult women, 4.4% for Caucasians, 6.3% for Hispanics or Latinos (all races), 9.2% for African Americans, 3.2% for Asian Americans, and 18.0% for teenagers.^[38] Also, the U.S. unemployment rate would be at least 2% higher if prisoners and jail inmates were counted.^[45]^[46]

The unemployment rate is included in a number of major economic indexes including the United States' Conference Board's Index of Leading Indicators a macroeconomic measure of the state of the economy.

Estimated U.S. Unemployment rate from 1800-1890. All data are estimates based on data compiled by Lebergott.^[47] See limitations section below regarding how to interpret unemployment statistics in self-employed, agricultural economies. See image info for complete data.

Estimated U.S. Unemployment rate from 1890-2011. 1890–1930 data are from Romer.^[48] 1930–1940 data are from Coen.^[49] 1940–2011 data are from Bureau of Labor Statistics.^[50]^[51] See image info for complete data.

Alternatives

Limitations of the unemployment definition

The unemployment rate may be different from the impact of the economy on people. The unemployment figures indicate how many are not working for pay but seeking employment for pay. It is only indirectly connected with the number of people who are actually not working at all or working without pay. Therefore, critics believe that current methods of measuring unemployment are inaccurate in terms of the impact of unemployment on people as these methods do not take into account the 1.5% of the available working population incarcerated in U.S. prisons (who may or may not be working while incarcerated), those who have lost their jobs and have become discouraged over time from actively looking for work, those who are self-employed or wish to become self-employed, such as tradesmen or building contractors or IT consultants, those who have retired before the official retirement age but would still like to work (involuntary early retirees), those on disability pensions who, while not possessing full health, still wish to work in occupations suitable for their medical conditions, those who work for payment for as little as one hour per week but would like to work full-time.^[52] These people are "involuntary part-time" workers, those who are underemployed, e.g., a computer programmer who is working in a retail store until he can find a permanent job, involuntary stay-at-home mothers who would prefer to work, and graduate and Professional school students who were unable to find worthwhile jobs after they graduated with their Bachelor's degrees.

Internationally, some nations' unemployment rates are sometimes muted or appear less severe due to the number of self-employed individuals working in agriculture.^[53] Small independent farmers are often considered self-employed; so, they cannot be unemployed. The impact of this is that in non-industrialized economies, such as the United States and Europe during the early 19th century, overall unemployment was approximately 3% because so many individuals were self-employed, independent farmers; yet, unemployment outside of agriculture was as high as 80%.^[54] Many economies industrialize and experience increasing numbers of non-agricultural workers. For example, the United States' non-agricultural labour force increased from 20% in 1800, to 50% in 1850, to 97% in 2000.^[55] The shift away from self-employment increases the percentage of the population who are included in unemployment rates. When comparing unemployment rates between countries or time periods, it is best to consider differences in their levels of industrialization and self-employment.

Additionally, the measures of employment and unemployment may be "too high". In some countries, the availability of unemployment benefits can inflate statistics since they give an incentive to register as unemployed. People who do not really seek work may choose to declare themselves unemployed so as to get benefits; people with undeclared paid occupations may try to get unemployment benefits in addition to the money they earn from their work.^[56]

However, in countries such as the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan and the European Union, unemployment is measured using a sample survey (akin to a Gallup poll).^[28] According to the BLS, a number of Eastern European nations have instituted labour force surveys as well. The sample survey has its own problems because the total number of workers in the economy is calculated based on a sample rather than a census.

It is possible to be neither employed nor unemployed by ILO definitions, i.e., to be outside of the "labour force."^[30] These are people who have no job and are not looking for one. Many of these are going to school or are retired. Family responsibilities keep others out of the labour force. Still others have a physical or mental disability which prevents them from participating in labour force activities. And of course some people simply elect not to work, preferring to be dependent on others for sustenance.

Typically, employment and the labour force include only work done for monetary gain. Hence, a homemaker is neither part of the labour force nor unemployed. Nor are full-time students nor prisoners considered to be part of the labour force or unemployment.^[52] The latter can be important. In 1999, economists Lawrence F. Katz and Alan B. Krueger estimated that increased incarceration lowered measured unemployment in the United States by 0.17% between 1985 and the late 1990s.^[52] In particular, as of 2005, roughly 0.7% of the U.S. population is incarcerated (1.5% of the available working population). Additionally, children, the elderly, and some individuals with disabilities are typically not counted as part of the labour force in and are correspondingly not included in the unemployment statistics. However, some elderly and many disabled individuals are active in the labour market

In the early stages of an economic boom, unemployment often rises.^[17] This is because people join the labour market (give up studying, start a job hunt, etc.) because of the improving job market, but until they have actually found a position they are counted as unemployed. Similarly, during a recession, the increase in the unemployment rate is moderated by people leaving the labour force or being otherwise discounted from the labour force, such as with the self-employed.

For the fourth quarter of 2004, according to OECD, (source Employment Outlook 2005 ISBN 92-64-01045-9), normalized unemployment for men aged 25 to 54 was 4.6% in the U.S. and 7.4% in France. At the same time and for the same population the employment rate (number of workers divided by population) was 86.3% in the U.S. and 86.7% in France. This example shows that the unemployment rate is 60% higher in France than in the U.S., yet more people in this demographic are working in France than in the U.S., which is counterintuitive if it is expected that the unemployment rate reflects the health of the labour market.^[57]^[58]

Due to these deficiencies, many labour market economists prefer to look at a range of economic statistics such as labour market participation rate, the percentage of people aged between 15 and 64 who are currently employed or searching for employment, the total number of full-time jobs in an economy, the number of people seeking work as a raw number and not a percentage, and the total number of person-hours worked in a month compared to the total number of person-hours people would like to work. In particular the NBER does not use the unemployment rate but prefer various employment rates to date recessions.^[59]

Participation rate

United States Labor Force Participation Rate by gender 1948-2011. Men are represented in light blue, women in pink, and the total in black.

The labor force participation rate is the ratio between the labor force and the overall size of their cohort (national population of the same age range). In the West during the later half of the 20th century, the labor force participation rate increased significantly, largely due to the increasing number of women entering the workplace.

In the United States, there were three significant stages of women's increased participation in the labor force. During the late 19th century through the 1920s, very few women worked. They were young single women who typically withdrew from labor force at marriage unless family needed two incomes. These women worked primarily in the textile manufacturing industry or as domestic workers. This profession empowered women and allowed them to earn a living wage. At times, they were a financial help to their families. Between 1930 and 1950, women labor force participation has increased primarily due to the increased demand for office workers, women participation in the high school movement, and due to electrification which reduced the time spent on household chores. In the 1950s to the 1970s, most women were secondary earners working mainly as secretaries, teachers, nurses, and librarians (pink-collar jobs). Claudia Goldin and others, specifically point that by the mid-1970s there was a period of revolution of women in the labor force brought on by a source of different factors. Women more accurately planned for their future in the work force, investing in more applicable majors in college that prepared them to enter and compete in the labor market. In the United States, the labor force participation rate rose from approximately 59% in 1948 to 66% in 2005,^[60] with participation among women rising from 32% to 59%^[61] and participation among men declining from 87% to 73%.^[62]^[63]

A common theory in modern economics claims that the rise of women participating in the U.S. labor force in the late 1960s was due to the introduction of a new contraceptive technology, birth control pills, and the adjustment of age of majority laws. The use of birth control gave women the flexibility of opting to invest and advance their career while maintaining a relationship. By having control over the timing of their fertility, they were not running a risk of thwarting their career choices. However, only 40% of the population actually used the birth control pill. This implies that other factors may have contributed to women choosing to invest in advancing their careers. One factor may be that more and more men delayed the age of marriage, allowing women to marry later in life without worrying about the quality of older men. Other factors include the changing nature of work, with machines replacing physical labor, eliminating many traditional male occupations, and the rise of the service sector, where many jobs are gender neutral.

Another factor that may have contributed to the trend was the The Equal Pay Act of 1963, which aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex. Such legislation diminished sexual discrimination and encouraged more women to enter the labor market by receiving fair remuneration to help raising families and children.

The labor force participation rate can decrease when the rate of growth of the population outweighs that of the employed and unemployed together. The labor force participation rate is a key component in long-term economic growth, almost as important as productivity.

Participation rates are defined as follows:

Pop = total population	LF = labor force = U + E
LFpop = labor force population (generally defined as all men and women aged 15–64)	p = participation rate = LF / LFpop
E = number employed	e = rate of employment = E / LF
U = number of unemployed	u = rate of unemployment = U / LF

The labor force participation rate explains how an increase in the unemployment rate can occur simultaneously with an increase in employment. If a large amount of new workers enter the labor force but only a small fraction become employed, then the increase in the number of unemployed workers can outpace the growth in employment.^[64]

Causes

US effective corporate tax rate, 1947-2012
Percent of US population employed, 1995-2012

Average annual growth in U.S. payroll employment, by top income tax bracket rate, 1950-2010^[65]

US corporate profits after tax, 1995-2012
US commercial bank deposits, 1995-2012

The different types of unemployment listed above usually involve different causes, and different theories will often point to a variety of causes too, but there are some causes common to all unemployment. Chief among these common causes is a lack of sufficient aggregate demand for labor.^[66]

While a large variety of different factors can reduce aggregate demand for labor, macroeconomic threshold factors have recently become of interest to policymakers.^[67] One such factor of particular recent note concerns decreases in the effective tax rate (for example, when tax shelters such as tax havens become more widely available) which cause the expected return on investment from hiring new employees to fall below net return from paying tax on profits, leading businesses to choose to bank their profits instead of investing them in hiring.^[68] Since all profitable businesses in a jurisdiction face a similar decision based on similar changes in the effective tax rate, the combined macroeconomic effect can be quite large, and feed back via consumer spending into the aggregate demand, lowering the expected return on investment in labor even further.^[69] Under those conditions, profits and bank deposits will sharply increase simultaneously with a similarly sharp drop in employment, as was the case in 2007-2012 in the U.S.^[70]

Effects

Costs

Individual

Migrant Mother, Dorothea Lange, 1936

Unemployed individuals are unable to earn money to meet financial obligations. Failure to pay mortgage payments or to pay rent may lead to homelessness through foreclosure or eviction.^[71] Across the United States the growing ranks of people made homeless in the foreclosure crisis are generating tent cities.^[72] Unemployment increases susceptibility to malnutrition, illness, mental stress, and loss of self-esteem, leading to depression. According to a study published in Social Indicator Research, even those who tend to be optimistic find it difficult to look on the bright side of things when unemployed. Using interviews and data from German participants aged 16 to 94 – including individuals coping with the stresses of real life and not just a volunteering student population – the researchers determined that even optimists struggled with being unemployed.^[73]

Dr. M. Brenner conducted a study in 1979 on the "Influence of the Social Environment on Psychology." Brenner found that for every 10% increase in the number of unemployed there is an increase of 1.2% in total mortality, a 1.7% increase in cardiovascular disease, 1.3% more cirrhosis cases, 1.7% more suicides, 4.0% more arrests, and 0.8% more assaults reported to the police.^[74] A more recent study by Christopher Ruhm^[75] on the effect of recessions on health found that several measures of health actually improve during recessions. As for the impact of an economic downturn on crime, during the Great Depression the crime rate did not decrease. The unemployed in the U.S. often use welfare programs such as Food Stamps or accumulating debt because unemployment insurance in the U.S. generally does not replace a majority of the income one received on the job (and one cannot receive such aid indefinitely).

Not everyone suffers equally from unemployment. In a prospective study of 9570 individuals over four years, highly conscientious people suffered more than twice as much if they became unemployed.^[76] The authors suggested this may be due to conscientious people making different attributions about why they became unemployed, or through experiencing stronger reactions following failure.

Some hold that many of the low-income jobs are not really a better option than unemployment with a welfare state (with its unemployment insurance benefits). But since it is difficult or impossible to get unemployment insurance benefits without having worked in the past, these jobs and unemployment are more complementary than they are substitutes. (These jobs are often held short-term, either by students or by those trying to gain experience; turnover in most low-paying jobs is high.)

Another cost for the unemployed is that the combination of unemployment, lack of financial resources, and social responsibilities may push unemployed workers to take jobs that do not fit their skills or allow them to use their talents. Unemployment can cause underemployment, and fear of job loss can spur psychological anxiety. As well as anxiety, it can cause depression, lack of confidence, and huge amounts of stress. They will begin to lose social contacts, and good social skills.

Social

An economy with high unemployment is not using all of the resources, specifically labour, available to it. Since it is operating below its production possibility frontier, it could have higher output if all the workforce were usefully employed. However, there is a trade-off between economic efficiency and unemployment: if the frictionally unemployed accepted the first job they were offered, they would be likely to be operating at below their skill level, reducing the economy's efficiency.^[77]

Demonstration against unemployment in Kerala, India

During a long period of unemployment, workers can lose their skills, causing a loss of human capital. Being unemployed can also reduce the life expectancy of workers by about 7 years.^[78]

High unemployment can encourage xenophobia and protectionism as workers fear that foreigners are stealing their jobs.^[79] Efforts to preserve existing jobs of domestic and native workers include legal barriers against "outsiders" who want jobs, obstacles to immigration, and/or tariffs and similar trade barriers against foreign competitors.

High unemployment can also cause social problems such as crime; if people have less disposable income than before, it is very likely that crime levels within the economy will increase.

Unemployment rate in Germany in 2003 by states.

Socio-political

High levels of unemployment can be causes of civil unrest, in some cases leading to revolution, and particularly totalitarianism. The fall of the Weimar Republic in 1933 and Adolf Hitler's rise to power, which culminated in World War II and the deaths of tens of millions and the destruction of much of the physical capital of Europe, is attributed to the poor economic conditions in Germany at the time, notably a high unemployment rate^[80] of above 20%; see Great Depression in Central Europe for details.

Note that the hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic is not directly blamed for the Nazi rise – the Inflation in the Weimar Republic occurred primarily in the period 1921–23, which was contemporary with Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, and is blamed for damaging the credibility of democratic institutions, but the Nazis did not assume government until 1933, ten years after the hyperinflation but in the midst of high unemployment.

Rising unemployment has traditionally been regarded by the public and media in any country as a key guarantor of electoral defeat for any government which oversees it. This was very much the consensus in the United Kingdom until 1983, when Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government won a landslide in the general election, despite overseeing a rise in unemployment from 1,500,000 to 3,200,000 since its election four years earlier.^[81]

Benefits

Main article: Full employment

The primary benefit of unemployment is that people are available for hire, without being headhunted away from their existing employers. This permits new and old businesses to take on staff.

Unemployment is argued^{[citation needed]} to be "beneficial" to the people who are not unemployed in the sense that it averts inflation, which itself has damaging effects, by providing (in Marxian terms) a reserve army of labour, that keeps wages in check. However the direct connection between full local employment and local inflation has been disputed by some due to the recent increase in international trade that supplies low-priced goods even while local employment rates rise to full employment.^[82]

In the Shapiro-Stiglitz model of efficiency wages, workers are paid at a level that dissuades shirking. This prevents wages from dropping to market clearing levels.

Full employment cannot be achieved because workers would shirk if they were not threatened with the possibility of unemployment. The curve for the no-shirking condition (labeled NSC) goes to infinity at full employment as a result. The inflation-fighting benefits to the entire economy arising from a presumed optimum level of unemployment has been studied extensively.^[83] The Shapiro-Stiglitz model suggests that wages are not bid down sufficiently to ever reach 0% unemployment.^[84] This occurs because employers know that when wages decrease, workers will shirk and expend less effort. Employers avoid shirking by preventing wages from decreasing so low that workers give up and become unproductive. These higher wages perpetuate unemployment while the threat of unemployment reduces shirking.

Before current levels of world trade were developed, unemployment was demonstrated to reduce inflation, following the Phillips curve, or to decelerate inflation, following the NAIRU/natural rate of unemployment theory, since it is relatively easy to seek a new job without losing one's current one. And when more jobs are available for fewer workers (lower unemployment), it may allow workers to find the jobs that better fit their tastes, talents, and needs.

As in the Marxian theory of unemployment, special interests may also benefit: some employers may expect that employees with no fear of losing their jobs will not work as hard, or will demand increased wages and benefit. According to this theory, unemployment may promote general labour productivity and profitability by increasing employers' rationale for their monopsony-like power (and profits).^[20]

Optimal unemployment has also been defended as an environmental tool to brake the constantly accelerated growth of the GDP to maintain levels sustainable in the context of resource constraints and environmental impacts.^[85] However the tool of denying jobs to willing workers seems a blunt instrument for conserving resources and the environment — it reduces the consumption of the unemployed across the board, and only in the short term. Full employment of the unemployed workforce, all focused toward the goal of developing more environmentally efficient methods for production and consumption might provide a more significant and lasting cumulative environmental benefit and reduced resource consumption.^[86] If so the future economy and workforce would benefit from the resultant structural increases in the sustainable level of GDP growth.

Some critics of the "culture of work" such as anarchist Bob Black see employment as overemphasized culturally in modern countries. Such critics often propose quitting jobs when possible, working less, reassessing the cost of living to this end, creation of jobs which are "fun" as opposed to "work," and creating cultural norms where work is seen as unhealthy. These people advocate an "anti-work" ethic for life.^[87]

Decline in work hours

As a result of productivity the work week declined considerably over the 19th century.^[88]^[89] By the 1920s in the U.S. the average work week was 49 hours, but the work week was reduced to 40 hours (after which overtime premium was applied) as part of the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. At the time of the Great Depression of the 1930s it was understood that with the enormous productivity gains due to electrification, mass production and agricultural mechanization, there was no need for a large number of previously employed workers.^[24]^[90]

Controlling or reducing unemployment

Societies try a number of different measures to get as many people as possible into work, and various societies have experienced close to full employment for extended periods, particularly during the Post-World War II economic expansion. The United Kingdom in the 1950s and 60s averaged 1.6% unemployment,^[91] while in Australia the 1945 White Paper on Full Employment in Australia established a government policy of full employment, which policy lasted until the 1970s when the government ran out of money.

However, mainstream economic discussions of full employment since the 1970s suggest that attempts to reduce the level of unemployment below the natural rate of unemployment will fail, resulting only in less output and more inflation.

Demand side solutions

United States Families on Relief (in 1,000's)
	1936	1937	1938	1939	1940	1941
^[92]
Workers employed
WPA	1,995	2,227	1,932	2,911	1,971	1,638
CCC and NYA	712	801	643	793	877	919
Other federal work projects	554	663	452	488	468	681
Cases on public assistance
Social security programs	602	1,306	1,852	2,132	2,308	2,517
General relief	2,946	1,484	1,611	1,647	1,570	1,206
Totals
Total families helped	5,886	5,660	5,474	6,751	5,860	5,167
Unemployed workers (BLS)	9,030	7,700	10,390	9,480	8,120	5,560
Coverage (cases/unemployed)	65%	74%	53%	71%	72%	93%

Many countries aid the unemployed through social welfare programs. These unemployment benefits include unemployment insurance, unemployment compensation, welfare and subsidies to aid in retraining. The main goal of these programs is to alleviate short-term hardships and, more importantly, to allow workers more time to search for a job.

Government unemployment office with job listings, Berlin, Germany.

A direct demand-side solution to unemployment is government-funded employment of the able-bodied poor. This was notably implemented in Britain from the 17th century until 1948 in the institution of the workhouse, which provided jobs for the unemployed with harsh conditions and poor wages to dissuade their use. A modern alternative is a job guarantee, where the government guarantees work at a living wage. Temporary measures can include public works programs such as the Works Progress Administration. Government-funded employment is not widely advocated as a solution to unemployment, except in times of crisis; this is attributed to the public sector jobs' existence depending directly on the tax receipts from private sector employment.

In the U.S. the unemployment insurance allowance one receives is based solely on previous income (not time worked, family size, etc.) and usually compensates for one-third of one's previous income. To qualify, one must reside in their respective state for at least a year and, of course, work. The system was established by the Social Security Act of 1935. Although 90% of citizens are covered by unemployment insurance, less than 40% apply for and receive benefits.^[93] However, the number applying for and receiving benefits increases during recessions. In cases of highly seasonal industries the system provides income to workers during the off seasons, thus encouraging them to stay attached to the industry.

According to classical economic theory, markets reach equilibrium where supply equals demand; everyone who wants to sell at the market price can. Those who do not want to sell at this price do not; in the labour market this is classical unemployment. Increases in the demand for labour will move the economy along the demand curve, increasing wages and employment. The demand for labour in an economy is derived from the demand for goods and services. As such, if the demand for goods and services in the economy increases, the demand for labour will increase, increasing employment and wages.

Monetary policy and fiscal policy can both be used to increase short-term growth in the economy, increasing the demand for labour and decreasing unemployment.

Supply-side solutions

However, the labour market is not 100% efficient: It does not clear, though it may be more efficient than bureaucracy. Some argue that minimum wages and union activity keep wages from falling, which means too many people want to sell their labour at the going price but cannot. This assumes perfect competition exists in the labour market, specifically that no single entity is large enough to affect wage levels. Advocates of supply-side policies believe those policies can solve this by making the labour market more flexible. These include removing the minimum wage and reducing the power of unions. Supply-siders argue the reforms increase long-term growth. This increased supply of goods and services requires more workers, increasing employment. It is argued that supply-side policies, which include cutting taxes on businesses and reducing regulation, create jobs and reduce unemployment. Other supply-side policies include education to make workers more attractive to employers.

History

There are relatively limited historical records on unemployment because it has not always been acknowledged or measured systematically. Industrialization involves economies of scale that often prevent individuals from having the capital to create their own jobs to be self-employed. An individual who cannot either join an enterprise or create a job is unemployed. As individual farmers, ranchers, spinners, doctors and merchants are organized into large enterprises, those who cannot join or compete become unemployed.

Recognition of unemployment occurred slowly as economies across the world industrialized and bureaucratized. Before this, traditional self sufficient native societies have no concept of unemployment. The recognition of the concept of "unemployment" is best exemplified through the well documented historical records in England. For example, in 16th century England no distinction was made between vagrants and the jobless; both were simply categorized as "sturdy beggars", to be punished and moved on.^[94]

The closing of the monasteries in the 1530s increased poverty, as the church had helped the poor. In addition, there was a significant rise in enclosure during the Tudor period. Also the population was rising. Those unable to find work had a stark choice: starve or break the law. In 1535, a bill was drawn up calling for the creation of a system of public works to deal with the problem of unemployment, to be funded by a tax on income and capital. A law passed a year later allowed vagabonds to be whipped and hanged.^[95]

In 1547, a bill was passed that subjected vagrants to some of the more extreme provisions of the criminal law, namely two years servitude and branding with a "V" as the penalty for the first offense and death for the second.^[96] During the reign of Henry VIII, as many as 72,000 people are estimated to have been executed.^[97] In the 1576 Act each town was required to provide work for the unemployed.^[98]

The Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601, one of the world's first government-sponsored welfare programs, made a clear distinction between those who were unable to work and those able-bodied people who refused employment.^[99] Under the Poor Law systems of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland a workhouse was a place where people who were unable to support themselves, could go to live and work.^[100]

Industrial Revolution to late 19th century

Poverty was a highly visible problem in the eighteenth century, both in cities and in the countryside. In France and Britain by the end of the century, an estimated 10 percent of the people depended on charity or begging for their food.

—Jackson J. Spielvogel (2008), Cengage Learning. p.566. ISBN 0-495-50287-1

By 1776 some 1,912 parish and corporation workhouses had been established in England and Wales, housing almost 100,000 paupers.

A description of the miserable living standards of the mill workers in England in 1844 was given by Fredrick Engels in The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844.^[101] In the preface to the 1892 edition Engels notes that the extreme poverty he wrote about in 1844 had largely disappeared. David Ames Wells also noted that living conditions in England had improved near the end of the 19th century and that unemployment was low.

The scarcity and high price labor in the U. S. during the 19th century was well documented by contemporary accounts, as in the following:

"The laboring classes are comparatively few in number, but this is counterbalanced by, and indeed, may be one of the causes of the eagerness by which they call in the use of machinery in almost every department of industry. Wherever it can be applied as a substitute for manual labor, it is universally and willingly resorted to ….It is this condition of the labor market, and this eager resort to machinery wherever it can be applied, to which, under the guidance of superior education and intelligence, the remarkable prosperity of the United States is due."^[102] Joseph Whitworth, 1854

Scarcity of labor was a factor in the economics of slavery in the U. S.

As new territories were opened and Federal land sales conducted, land had to be cleared and new homesteads established. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants annually came to the U.S. and found jobs digging canals and building railroads. Almost all work during most of the 19th century was done by hand or with horses, mules, or oxen, because there was very little mechanization. The workweek during most of the 19th century was 60 hours. Unemployment at times was between one and two percent.

The tight labor market was a factor in productivity gains allowing workers to maintain or increase their nominal wages during the secular deflation that caused real wages to rise at various times in the 19th century, especially in the final decades.^[103]

20th century

There were labor shortages during WW I.^[24] Ford Motor Co. doubled wages to reduce turnover. After 1925 unemployment began to gradually rise.^[104]

"Industrious young man looking for work" Unemployed German laborer in 1928

Unemployed men, marching for jobs during the Great Depression in Canada, 1930

The decade of the 1930s saw the Great Depression impact unemployment across the globe. One Soviet trading corporation in New York averaged 350 applications a day from Americans seeking jobs in the Soviet Union.^[105] In Germany the unemployment rate reached nearly 25% in 1932.^[106]

In some towns and cities in the north east of England, unemployment reached as high as 70%; the national unemployment level peaked at more than 22% in 1932.^[107] Unemployment in Canada reached 27% at the depth of the Depression in 1933.^[108] In 1929, the U.S. unemployment rate averaged 3%.^[109] In 1933, 25% of all American workers and 37% of all nonfarm workers were unemployed.^[110]

In Cleveland, Ohio, the unemployment rate was 60%; in Toledo, Ohio, 80%.^[111] There were two million homeless people migrating across the United States.^[111] Over 3 million unemployed young men were taken out of the cities and placed into 2600+ work camps managed by the CCC.^[112]

Unemployment in the United Kingdom fell later in the 1930s as the depression eased, and remained low (in six figures) after World War II.

Fredrick Mills found that in the U.S., 51% of the decline in work hours was due to the fall in production and 49% was from increased productivity.^[113] By 1972 unemployment in the UK had crept back up above 1,000,000, and was even higher by the end of the decade, with inflation also being high. Although the monetarist economic policies of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government saw inflation reduced after 1979, unemployment soared in the early 1980s, exceeding 3,000,000 — a level not seen for some 50 years — by 1982. This represented one in eight of the workforce, with unemployment exceeding 20% in some parts of the United Kingdom which had relied on the now-declining industries such as coal mining.^[114]

However, this was a time of high unemployment in all major industrialised nations. By the spring of 1983, unemployment in the United Kingdom had risen by 6% in the previous 12 months; compared to 10% in Japan, 23% in the United States of America and 34% in West Germany (seven years before reunification).^[115]

Unemployment in the United Kingdom remained above 3,000,000 until the spring of 1987, by which time the economy was enjoying a boom.^[114] By the end of 1989, unemployment had fallen to 1,600,000. However, inflation had reached 7.8% and the following year it reached a nine-year high of 9.5%; leading to increased interest rates.^[116]

Another recession began during 1990 and lasted until 1992. Unemployment began to increase and by the end of 1992 nearly 3,000,000 in the United Kingdom were unemployed. Then came a strong economic recovery.^[114] With inflation down to 1.6% by 1993, unemployment then began to fall rapidly, standing at 1,800,000 by early 1997.^[117]

Unemployment rate for Japan 1953-2006

The official unemployment rate in the 16 EU countries that use the euro rose to 10% in December 2009 as a result of another recession.^[118] Latvia had the highest unemployment rate in EU at 22.3% for November 2009.^[119] Europe's young workers have been especially hard hit.^[120] In November 2009, the unemployment rate in the EU27 for those aged 15–24 was 18.3%. For those under 25, the unemployment rate in Spain was 43.8%.^[121] Unemployment has risen in two-thirds of European countries since 2010.^[122]

Into the 21st century, unemployment in the United Kingdom remained low and the economy remaining strong, while at this time several other European economies — namely, France and Germany (reunified a decade earlier) — experienced a minor recession and a substantial rise in unemployment.^[123]

In 2008, when the recession brought on another increase in the United Kingdom, after 15 years of economic growth and no major rises in unemployment.^[124] Early in 2009, unemployment passed the 2,000,000 mark, by which time economists were predicting it would soon reach 3,000,000.^[125] However, the end of the recession was declared in January 2010^[126] and unemployment peaked at nearly 2,700,000 in 2011,^[127] appearing to ease fears of unemployment reaching 3,000,000.^[128]

A flood of inexpensive consumer goods from China has recently encountered criticism from Europe, the United States and some African countries.^[129] As of April 26, 2005 Asia Times article notes that, "In regional giant South Africa, some 300,000 textile workers have lost their jobs in the past two years due to the influx of Chinese goods".^[130] The increasing U.S. trade deficit with China has cost 2.4 million American jobs between 2001 and 2008, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).^[131] From 2000 to 2007, the United States had lost a total of 3.2 million manufacturing jobs.^[132]

About 25 million people in the world's 30 richest countries will have lost their jobs between the end of 2007 and the end of 2010 as the economic downturn pushes most countries into recession.^[133] In April 2010, the U.S. unemployment rate was 9.9%, but the government's broader U-6 unemployment rate was 17.1%.^[134] There are six unemployed people, on average, for each available job.^[135] In April 2012, the unemployment rate was 4.6 % in Japan.^[136] In a 2012 news story, the Financial Post reported, "Nearly 75 million youth are unemployed around the world, an increase of more than 4 million since 2007. In the European Union, where a debt crisis followed the financial crisis, the youth unemployment rate rose to 18% last year from 12.5% in 2007, the ILO report shows."^[137]

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