Labor and Employment Issues

In the short run, the relationship between economic growth and the unemployment rate may be a loose one. One reason that unemployment may not fall appreciably when economic growth first picks up is that some firms may have underutilized labor. Laying off workers when times are bad and rehiring them as conditions improve has costs. In other words, firms may be able to increase their output by raising the productivity of the labor on hand, which yields a temporary boost in measured labor productivity above its longer-run rate of growth. This book examines the relationship between economic growth and the unemployment outlook to anticipate possible future developments.