Unemployment, Marginal Attachment and Labor Force Participation in Canada and the United States

Stephen Jones () and W. Craig Riddell

No 10769, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We analyze changes in unemployment, marginal labor force attachment and participation in Canada and the U.S.. Using two complementary decompositions, we show the importance for the comparative evolution of aggregate unemployment of changes in the fraction of the non-employed who are unemployed and in the fraction of the unemployed who 'want work'. Using microdata we study labor market transition behavior at these margins, finding remarkably consistent results in the two countries, with the marginally attached displaying behavior lying between unemployment and non-attachment. The three non-employment states are distinct from one another in both Canada and the U.S.

Keywords: unemployment; labor force participation; non-employment; marginal attachment; labor force transitions; heterogeneity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E24 E32 J63 J64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 64 pages
Date: 2017-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mac
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Unemployment, Marginal Attachment, and Labor Force Participation in Canada and the United States (2019)
Working Paper: Unemployment, Marginal Attachment and Labor Force Participation in Canada and the United States* (2017)
Working Paper: Unemployment, marginal attachment and labor force participation in Canada and the United States (2017)
Chapter: Unemployment, Marginal Attachment, and Labor Force Participation in Canada and the United States (2016)
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