Does the U.S. government purposely try to keep the unemployment rate at a certain level? Why?
by 
Radioclash
ANSWERS: 2
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I think the simple answer here is, no. Having a strong workforce is in the best interest of the government and the country as a whole, so the government wants the unemployment rate to be as low as possible. However, what you may be refering to is a 4 to 5 percent level of unemployment that the government would like to maintain because this is statistically "full employment". The government makes the assumption (well... probably not an assumption, I'm sure they have statistics to support this) that in any given year at least 4 to 5 percent of the nations workforce will be in some sort of transition or unable to work. For example, a new mother or father decides to give up their job and stay home with a child; someone decides to leave their job in search of greener pastures and is unemployed for 2 months before taking on a new job; a construction company lays off workers upon completion of one job but before they secure a contract for the next job, and then hire them all back weeks or months later.
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If it mattered to the US gov to keep the unemployment rate as low as possible they would put more money into education, concentrate on giving the people more skills to be able to jump into the workforce, and create more jobs. The more people work and spend the better of the economy is. It just so happens that a lot of those people unemployed are minorities, poor, and have little education. The government is not trying to stop the consistent cycle of unemployment, which means that they want it there. It is not a coincidence that those who are unemployed and have little education. It is much easier to control people with little education. There is a lot of use for people who are not employed some of which are the following: -the younger ones can enlist in the army -the unemployed can take up a life of crime to eventually be imprisoned and those who own the prisons can make money off of them. -many of the unemployed would turn to drugs -they can take up the jobs that no one else would take -having people unempolyed will ensure that the cycle will continue and that their kids will do some of the above
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