Economic Fluctuations and the Labour Market – What has Changed?

The adjustment of employment to the economic upswing in the eighties was slower than in the seventies. The link between the labour and goods market was also tighter. In the eighties, the structural component of unemployment was larger than in the past. This increase in structural unemployment was brought about by changes in the functioning of the labour market at the firm level, a stronger businesslike stance of employers, and structural changes on the supply side and less by a regional and occupational mismatch.