Thursday, November 21, 2013
Who's got the highest (and lowest) unemployment rates?
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/07/14/world.comparison.unemployment/
Qatar 0.5 December 2010
Thailand 0.5 May 2011
Singapore 1.9 March 2011
Vietnam 2.6 June 2011
Switzerland 2.8 June 2011
Malaysia 3 April 2011
South Korea 3.2 May 2011
Norway 3.3 March 2011
Hong Kong 3.5 May 2011
Denmark 3.8 April 2011
This is a graph showing the top lowest unemployment percents in the world by country. As you may notice, most of these countries are in south east Asia. According to George T. Haley "One reason why the unemployment rates in those countries are low is because they're starting to get a lot of investment that used to go to China." China is in a state of high inflation which is causing China to be out resourced. Accuracy, on exact percentages, are slightly off due to how each country defines their unemployment rate; each country defines it differently. You also have to take into consideration that not all countries that may be on this list are on the list. These statistics are from December 2010.
I think part of the reason Asia has a low percentage is because of the type of government they have. Most are in the communist republic type of government. Most communistic governments have lower unemployment percentage rates since almost everyone is forced to work otherwise they would be living on the streets. Another reason for this would be their low pay. Most have an average income of around $800 which is extremely low. I believe the reason for our unemployment rate being so low is the laziness of our country. Sure the US overall efficiency may be the highest it's been in a long time; however i believe that's simply to the advances in technology we are taking advantage of. If we worked just as hard as the people in Asia we could have a much lower unemployment rate.
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I believe it is more a result of nobody wanting to work a low skill job. Many times a low skill job requires hard, manual labor, and in today's economy, people are not willing to do that. I also think that those low unemployment rates are a direct result of the subsistence farming that occurs in those nations. People have a job even if it is just farming to feed their families. That is considered a job by the government (I think). So if those people that aren't working in industry are still farming, then unemployment would be low.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that China is now being outsourced. I wonder how this will impact their country's economy. I agree with David on how many will not take a low skill job because of the pay. Having a job is better than facing unemployment and a lack of income.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dave, many of the job opportunities in regions like Southeast Asia are in sweatshops and workers are under very unfavorable conditions. I certainly wouldn't take a job like that.
ReplyDeleteYou have to ask, what are the alternatives to working in a sweatshop in SE asia? I think the benefits outweigh the costs of the alternative. Subsistence farming, human trafficking are far worse alternatives for most.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that advances in technology have eliminated jobs, I don't think it's because we are "lazy". I think that blame lies more on the corporations using these machines. If you were a manager, would you elect to pay a bunch of workers to do a job that a simple machine could do? It is obvious which one is cheaper and more reliable. I think that this trend of human jobs being taken over by automation will continue, because every corporation looks for efficiency, and human beings just don't bring enough of it to the table, what with pesky labor unions and wanting a "safe working environment" and all.
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