Can the UK achieve full-employment?
The British labour market has performed well in the last decade raising hopes that low unemployment be maintained for the foreseeable future. There is still much to be done to reduce unemployment in economically depressed areas. Although the average rate of unemployment has come down, jobless rates in excess of 10% are a feature of many towns and cities. And youth unemployment remains a serious problem. The sustained fall in unemployment has encouraged optimism that Britain can reach full-employment in the near future. Indeed, in some regions and towns and cities, full-employment is already a reality. The UK unemployment rate started to rise again in 2005 and 2006 albeit at a gentle rate. Economists agree that unemployment cannot fall to zero since there will always be frictional unemployment caused by people moving into the labour market and others switching between jobs. Full-employment might be defined as when the labour market has reached a state of equilibrium – i.e. when those wh
