Frictional unemployment is a type of unemployment. It is sometimes called search unemployment and can be based on the circumstances of the individual. It is time spent between jobs when a worker is searching for a job or transferring from one job to another. Frictional unemployment is one of the three broad categories of unemployment, the others being structural unemployment and cyclical unemployment. A person may be looking for a job change for better opportunities, services, salary and wages, or because of dissatisfaction with the previous job. Strikes by trade unions also give rise to frictional unemployment.
Analysis
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, worktime, location, attitude, taste, and a multitude of other factors. New entrants and re-entrants 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 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. Frictional unemployment is related to and compatible with the concept of full employment. At full employment the unemployment rate will be positive because of the inevitable presence of frictional unemployment. The frictions in the labor market are sometimes illustrated graphically with a Beveridge curve, a downward-sloping, convex curve that shows a fixed relationship between the unemployment rate on one axis and the vacancy rate on the other. Changes in the supply of or demand for labor cause movements along this curve. An increase in labor market frictions will shift the curve outwards.
Examples
One kind of frictional unemployment is called wait unemployment: it refers to the effects of the existence of some sectors where employed workers are paid more than the market-clearingequilibrium wage. Not only does this restrict the amount of employment in the high-wage sector, but it attracts workers from other sectors who wait to try to get jobs there. The main problem with this theory is that such workers will likely "wait" while having jobs, so that they are not counted as unemployed. In Hollywood, for example, those who are waiting for acting jobs also wait on tables in restaurants for pay. However, these workers might be seen as underemployed.
Solutions
Policies to reduce frictional unemployment include:
