 Zero unemployment is impossible  Normal unemployment rate is 4-6 %.

Frictional- take time to find a job Example- graduated 3 months ago and looking for the right job Structural- worker’s skills don’t match the needs Example- drop out of school so you don’t have the skills to match the job You were a secretary and they replaced you with automated technology.

Seasonal- industry slows down for a season Example- yard mowing in the winter Working at Dollywood in the winter Cyclical Unemployment- lose job because of economic down turn Example- construction companies losing workers because of the housing market during the recession Factors outside the economy- Natural disasters, 9/11 terrorist attacks cost the country almost 2 million jobs

Date National Unemployment Rate Tennessee Unemployment Rate Tennessee Unemployed August %7.4%222,361 July %7.1%215,882 June %6.6%200,983 May %6.4%193,947 April % 191,926 March % 203,697 February %6.9%209,682 January %7.2%218,663 December %7.7%234,796 November %7.9%239,860 October %8.1%245,492

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Item1950s1980s2008 Movie Ticket$.50$3.50$8 Loaf of Bread$.16$.51$2.50 Average house$16,000$100,000$250,000 Average car$1,800$6,000$20,000 Average gallon of gas $.20$1$4 Average salary$3,000$16,000$50,000 Cost of Living Comparison

According to the government who is poor? A family is poor if their total income is less than the amount required to satisfy the family’s minimum needs. The Census bureau determines the income level required to meet these needs. This is the poverty threshold.

Shifts in family structure- single parent families have 4 times the poverty rate as married. Location- inner cities, rural areas Racial and gender discrimination- poverty rate is twice as high for African Americans and Hispanics. Men make more than women. Growth of low skilled service jobs- not as many high paying manufacturing jobs for less educated persons Lack of Education- less education/ less money