9.3.7—Unemployment policies

Policies include demand management for cyclical unemployment, training and mobility support for structural unemployment, job-search services for frictional unemployment, and measures affecting participation or incentives.

Expansionary fiscal or monetary policy can raise employment when demand is weak but may cause inflation or debt. Supply-side measures take longer and may not help a recession caused by missing demand.

A recession may call for temporary demand support; a region losing its main industry may need retraining, transport and relocation support instead.

No unemployment policy works for every type, and reducing the measured rate by changing eligibility is not the same as creating productive jobs.