就業(yè)率高是好事兒，失業(yè)率低未必一定是壞事兒！

While on the surface it appears that a 0% unemployment rate would be terrific for the citizens of a country, having a small amount of unemployment is actually desirable.

從表面上看，零失業(yè)率對一個國家的公民來說應(yīng)該是好到爆了，然而實際上保留一個小幅的失業(yè)率才是好事。

To understand why we need to look at the three types (or causes) of unemployment.

要弄明白為什么，我們首先得來看看失業(yè)的三種形式。(或者說三種成因)

Cyclical Unemployment is defined as occurring "when the unemployment rate moves in the opposite direction as the GDP growth rate. So when GDP growth is small (or negative) unemployment is high." When the economy goes into recession and workers are laid off, we have cyclical unemployment.

周期性失業(yè)的定義是：失業(yè)率與GDP的增速呈負(fù)相關(guān)的關(guān)系。也就是說，當(dāng)GDP增長率很小(或者為負(fù))的時候，失業(yè)率會很高。當(dāng)一個經(jīng)濟(jì)體進(jìn)入衰退期，工人開始失業(yè)的時候，我們就遭遇了周期性失業(yè)。

Cyclical unemployment occurs when an economy's output deviates from potential GDP- i.e. the long-term trend level of output in an economy.

當(dāng)一個經(jīng)濟(jì)體的產(chǎn)出偏離潛在GDP的時候，也就是偏離長期的產(chǎn)出趨勢的時候，周期性失業(yè)就出現(xiàn)了。

When an economy's output is higher than the level of potential GDP, resources are utilized at levels higher than normal and cyclical unemployment is negative.

而當(dāng)經(jīng)濟(jì)體的產(chǎn)出比潛在GDP更高的時候，資源的利用率會比正常情況下更高，這時周期性失業(yè)率就會為負(fù)。

Conversely, when an economy's output is lower than the level of potential GDP, resources are utilized at levels lower than normal and cyclical unemployment is positive.

反過來，如果經(jīng)濟(jì)體的產(chǎn)出低于潛在GDP，資源的利用效率就會低于正常值，那周期性失業(yè)率就會為正。

Put simply, cyclical unemployment is unemployment associated with business cycles- i.e. recessions and booms.

簡單地講，周期性失業(yè)是和經(jīng)濟(jì)周期有關(guān)的失業(yè)，也就是衰退期和繁榮期。

Frictional Unemployment: We define frictional unemployment as "unemployment that comes from people moving between jobs, careers, and locations."

摩擦性失業(yè)：我們對摩擦性失業(yè)的定義是“當(dāng)人們切換工作、行業(yè)或工作地點時發(fā)生的失業(yè)”。

If a person quits his job as an economics researcher to try and find a job in the music industry, we would consider this to be frictional unemployment.

如果一個人辭掉了經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)研究員的工作，轉(zhuǎn)而去音樂行業(yè)找工作，就屬于我們所說的摩擦性失業(yè)。

Frictional unemployment is unemployment that comes from people moving between jobs, careers, and locations- in other words, unemployment that arises because most people don't enter into a new job immediately after exiting an old one (voluntarily or involuntarily).

摩擦性失業(yè)會在人們切換工作、切換行業(yè)、切換工作地點的時候發(fā)生，換句話說，它的出現(xiàn)是因為人們辭掉舊工作之后并不能立刻開始一個新工作。(不管是自愿的還是非自愿的)

Frictional unemployment is not thought to be a big problem from a policy standpoint because it is entirely reasonable that people would take some time to find a job that is a good match rather than take the first opportunity that comes along.

從政策的角度來講，摩擦性失業(yè)并不是一個大問題，因為它的成因完全可以理解，人們肯定更傾向于花點時間找個真正適合自己的工作，而不是單純接受眼前的第一個機(jī)會。

Technology that helps to match workers with jobs and streamline the interview and hiring process most likely result in the amount of frictional unemployment that exists in an economy.

那些幫助求職者匹配新工作的技術(shù)，以及幫助他們優(yōu)化面試和招聘流程的技術(shù)，很可能導(dǎo)致了一個經(jīng)濟(jì)體中摩擦性失業(yè)率的升高。

Structural Unemployment: We define structural unemployment as "unemployment that comes from there being an absence of demand for the workers that are available".

結(jié)構(gòu)性失業(yè)：我們對結(jié)構(gòu)性失業(yè)的定義是“當(dāng)勞動力需求相較于現(xiàn)有求職者人數(shù)而言出現(xiàn)缺口時產(chǎn)生的失業(yè)。”

Structural unemployment is often due to technological change.

結(jié)構(gòu)性失業(yè)通常來源于技術(shù)變革。

If the introduction of DVD players cause the sales of VCRs to plummet, many of the people who manufacture VCRs will suddenly be out of work.

如果DVD機(jī)的出現(xiàn)讓VCR的銷量暴跌，那么很多生產(chǎn)VCR的人就會突然失去工作。

By looking at these three types of unemployment, we can see why having some unemployment is a good thing.

看了這3種失業(yè)形式之后，我們就能明白為什么適當(dāng)?shù)氖I(yè)率是好的了。

Most people would argue that since cyclical unemployment is the by-product of a weak economy, it is necessarily a bad thing, though some have argued that recessions are good for the economy.

很多人可能會說：由于周期性失業(yè)是經(jīng)濟(jì)疲軟的副產(chǎn)品，所以它肯定是個壞事，雖然也有人說衰退對一個經(jīng)濟(jì)體來說有好處。

What about frictional unemployment? Let's go back to our friend who quit his job as an economic research to pursue his dreams in the music industry.

那摩擦性失業(yè)呢?我們再來看看剛剛那位辭掉經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)研究員工作轉(zhuǎn)而投身音樂界的朋友。

He quit a job he disliked to attempt a career at the music industry, even though it caused him to be unemployed for a short while.

他辭掉了一份自己不喜歡的工作，轉(zhuǎn)而尋求一份音樂界的工作，即使短暫失業(yè)也在所不惜。

Or consider the case of a person who is tired of living in Flint and decides to make it big in Hollywood and who arrives in Tinseltown without a job.

或者我們來想象一個厭倦了在小城弗林特生活的人，他決定去好萊塢尋求飛黃騰達(dá)的機(jī)會，于是以失業(yè)狀態(tài)來到了浮華城。

A great deal of frictional unemployment comes from people following their hearts and their dreams.

很大一部分摩擦性失業(yè)都是源于人們追尋自己的性子和夢想。

This is certainly a positive type of unemployment, though we would hope for these individuals' sakes that they do not stay unemployed for too long.

這當(dāng)然是一種積極型的失業(yè)，不過我們希望這些人不要失業(yè)太久。

Finally, structural unemployment. When the car became commonplace, it cost a lot of buggy manufacturers their jobs. At the same time, most would argue that the automobile, on net, was a positive development.

最后，結(jié)構(gòu)性失業(yè)。當(dāng)汽車成為常態(tài)的時候，很多馬車制造業(yè)的人失去了工作。而同時，大多數(shù)人會覺得自動化汽車從總體上來講是個積極的發(fā)展方向。

The only way we could ever eliminate all structural unemployment is by eliminating all technological advancement.

要消除所有的結(jié)構(gòu)性失業(yè)，我們只能消除所有的技術(shù)進(jìn)步。

By breaking down the three types of unemployment into cyclical unemployment, frictional unemployment, and structural unemployment, we see that an unemployment rate of 0% is not a positive thing.

在把失業(yè)拆分成周期性失業(yè)、摩擦性失業(yè)和結(jié)構(gòu)性失業(yè)之后，我們可以看出來，零失業(yè)率并不是一件好事。

A positive rate of unemployment is the price we pay for technological development and for people chasing their dreams.

一點正向的失業(yè)，是我們?yōu)榧夹g(shù)進(jìn)步與逐夢自由付出的代價。