structural unemployment
Long-term unemployment caused by a fundamental mismatch between available jobs and workers' skills or location, often resulting from technological change or industry shifts.
Example
“Coal miners facing structural unemployment after the industry's decline needed retraining for different industries, not just more job openings.”
Memory Tip
STRUCTURAL unemployment = jobs and workers FUNDAMENTALLY mismatched. Skills, location, or industry change.
Why It Matters
Understanding structural unemployment helps you make better career planning decisions and recognize when job market changes require retraining or relocation. If your industry faces technological disruption, you can proactively develop new skills or transition to growing fields before becoming structurally unemployed yourself.
Common Misconception
Many people confuse structural unemployment with simple job shortages or temporary economic downturns. However, structural unemployment is a long-term mismatch that does not resolve when the economy improves, unlike cyclical unemployment which recovers as business conditions strengthen.
In Practice
When coal mining declined in Appalachia over the past 20 years, thousands of miners became structurally unemployed because their specialized skills did not transfer to available jobs in their regions. A 55-year-old miner with 30 years of experience could not simply find equivalent work locally, forcing difficult choices between retraining, relocating to distant job markets, or accepting lower-wage positions.
Etymology
STRUCTURAL (fundamental, built into the economy's structure) UNEMPLOYMENT. Unemployment arising from STRUCTURAL economic changes.
Common Misspellings
Learn economics & finance from top universities
Related Terms
More in economics
Other economics terms you should know
See Also
Need financial definitions?
Clear definitions for 2,500+ finance, insurance, and investing terms.