Answer the following questions:

a. Describe the three types of unemployment.
b. Explain why economists believe some types of unemployment are efficient and some are not. Which ones are which?

a. Frictional unemployment is unemployment that is due to imperfect information in the economy; workers must spend time and resources acquiring information about the jobs available. Structural unemployment is due to dynamic changes in the economy, which renders the skills of some workers obsolete. Cyclical unemployment arises due to downturns in business activity.
b. Some amount of both frictional and structural unemployment is efficient because, although workers are unemployed, they are acquiring the information and skills necessary to be productive in new jobs. Cyclical unemployment is inefficient because it represents a decline in general demand, and no new employment opportunities appear.