Unemployment

One cause of unemployment may be downswings in the trade cycle, i.e., periods of recession. Another explanation of wide-scale unemployment refers to structural unemployment. Structural unemployment arises from longer-term changes in the economy affecting specific industries, regions, and occupations. Structural unemployment often explains regional unemployment. Some regions of the UK, such as Central Scotland and the North-West, have higher rates of unemployment because the traditional heavy industries that are located there have gone into decline as they are replaced by cheaper imports from abroad. The new high-tech industries based on new technologies tend to be based in the South-East and along particular growth corridors.