Elements Of Economics

Introduction
Unemployment in Spain is a constant phenomenon that has worsened in recent years. As it stands, the youth unemployment level is now record high at 55%. According to the article, the economy has dived into a recession causing many workers to lose their jobs (Ainger, 2013).It is statistically proven that suicide rates are directly related to unemployment (Pritchard, 2014). Comparing mortality rates, it can be seen that rates are higher among unemployed young men and woman as to those who are employed (Hammarström, 2002). In this particular essay, we will discuss the issue of unemployment in Spain, the types of unemployment that the nation faces and also to look into the measures that the government is currently taking to curb the unemployment problem.
Part 2
When unemployment is present, it means that the nation’s economy is not generating its full output because there are people who are unemployed. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) can be considered as one of the strongest tools for forecasting the unemployment patterns which have and will hit Spain (Miskolczi, Langhamrová, & Fiala, 2011). GDP is the monetary value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a single year (Case, Fair, & Oster, 2010). GDP, GDP growth rate, employment rates and the different types of unemployment are some concepts that will be used in analysing the unemployment in the country.
There are three types of unemployment that can be used to analyse unemployment in Spain. These three are frictional, structural and cyclical unemployment. Each category describes the type of unemployment that a country can suffer from. Frictional unemployment occurs because people who have left their previous jobs needs time to look for another one. During this period of the time, the person is unemployed for only a short period of time, and this is not a problematic issue from an economic perspective. A good example of frictional unemployment is when a graduate steps into the workforce to look for a job.
Structural unemployment occurs when there are changes in foreign competition and technology which alter the skillsets required to get the job done (Aysuna, Bouvetb, & Hoflera, 2014). This form of unemployment usually lasts longer than frictional unemployment. A good example of an example of structural unemployment is when the jobs of cashiers at supermarkets are replaced by self-check out registers, leading to unemployment due to technology advancement.
Cyclical unemployment occurs during recessions because when demand of goods and services falls, some companies will cut down production and workers rather than reducing wages to tide over hard times (Aysuna, Bouvetb, & Hoflera, 2014). This will cause more workers to be present in the economy then available jobs resulting in unemployment. An example of cyclical employment can be seen in agricultural workers who are only hired during the summer harvest months, but who remain unemployed for the remainder of the year.
Part 3
The issue of unemployment has been one of the most pressuring problems for most countries around the world. The current unemployment rate in Spain is 24.47 which is a drop in the 3 months towards June. It is the lowest rate since the second part of 2012 due to increased job creation in the service sectors. However, there is an increase in the youth unemployment rate from 53 percent to 53.5 percent in June 2014. It is indeed very shocking to see such a high percentage of unemployment among youths in Spain. In addition, the drop in the unemployment rate is only a gradual decline and it is still lingering at quite a high rate.

On the other hand, looking at Spain GDP 's growth from 2012 till 2014, the graph indicates how fast the economy in Spain is growing now. GDP growth rate is an important indicator to determine the health of a country 's economy. When a country’s economy is improving, the GDP growth rate will be positive indicating that businesses, jobs and income are also growing. As can be seen in the table below, Spain expanded 1.2 percent in the second portion of 2014 indicating moderate growth. However, from 2012 till the first quarter of 2014, Spain 's GDP growth rate became negative indicating that economy is moving towards or is already in a recession. This will lead to businesses holding back on purchases and investments as well as the hiring of employees.

Spain is currently experiencing three different forms of unemployment. However, cyclical unemployment is the most serious form of unemployment that Spain has been experiencing over the last 5 years. This can be proven by the decline of Spain 's GDP from $1454.34 Billion in 2010 to $1358.26 Billion in 2014, as seen in the graph below. When GDP is declining, productivity of firms and companies are also declining as well. This will lead to more and more people in Spain being cyclically unemployed.

Cyclical unemployment in Spain has resulted in numerous negative effects on the country. Firstly, due to the pressure of unemployment that young adults are facing, there are more and more young people at the age of 18 committing suicide. Reports by many experts have proven the case that suicide rates are positively correlated with the level of unemployment. Suicide has appeared to be the leading cause of death with massive unemployment of 55.7% in Spain (Bernal, Gasparrini, Artundo, & McKee, 2013).
Secondly, the rate of crime has been increasing, especially amongst young adults. A high unemployment rate is positively correlated with the crime rate. It is stated that being out of job is one of the main contributing factor for youths to engage in illegitimate activities. This results in committing crime so as to get an income, in an illegal way. Conversely, evidence shows that nations with a lower unemployment rate also have less offenders (Freeman, 2000).These effects of crime is closely increase in unemployment numbers, especially among young adults. Solutions and measures have to be taken in order to keep these numbers under control.

Looking at the situation of Spain, the government has taken some measures to curb the unemployment problem. The Spanish government has unveiled a huge stimulus plan of 3.5 billion Euros, which will be spent over 4 years aiming to help curb youth unemployment in Spain (Deutsche Welle, 2013). It also consists of a catalogue of 100 individual measures to be taken. Prime minister, Rajoy, said that tax breaks will be available for young freelance workers and companies employing young workers, social security payments for young self-employed workers will be reduced and that greater entrepreneurship will be introduced encouraged. (Deutsche Welle, 2013).
Researchers from Spain explored into the market of apprenticeship in Germany 's education system. It has been proven that Germany manage to lower their unemployment rate when youths are able to find a job during their apprenticeship (Freeman, 2000). A handful of employers also express that employing well trained apprentices would be much more preferable as to hiring overqualified graduates (Barysch, 2014). Hence, the Spanish government signed to cooperate with Germany to get their Spanish youth to start on their apprenticeship system and continue on further in getting a job. German firms would then provide the skills and training in upgrading the youth’s work skills during on-the-job trainings with them. This would then equip the youths with skills that they can benefit from for their future work experience (BBC News, 2012).
Conclusion
This essay studies the unemployment problem in Spain with the help of quarterly and annual GDP data, GDP growth rates and unemployment rates. The essay also explored the types of unemployment that Spain faced and stressed that cyclical unemployment that has been the greatest problem. Results have shown that cyclical unemployment has gone hand in hand with a decline in Spain’s GDP over the past few years. The negative impacts of such high unemployment were also discussed, with large increases in crime and suicide rates amongst youths observed due to unemployment.

References
Ainger, K. (2013). In Spain they are all indignados nowadays. United Kingdom: The Guardian.
Aysuna, U., Bouvetb, F., & Hoflera, R. (2014). An alternative measure of structural unemployment . Economic Modelling , 592-603.
Barysch, K. (2014). Can German apprenticeships fix Spain’s youth job crisis? World Economic Forum.
BBC News. (2012). Germany to help Spain give skills to jobless youths. BBC.
Bernal, J. A., Gasparrini, A., Artundo, C. M., & McKee, M. (2013). The effect of the late 2000s financial crisis on suicides in Spain: an interrupted time-series analysis. European Journal of Public Health .
Case, K., Fair, R., & Oster, S. (2010). Principles of Economics. Prentice Hall Business Publishing.
Deutsche Welle. (12 March, 2013). DW. Retrieved 8 September, 2014, from DEUTSCHE WELLE: http://www.dw.de/spain-spurs-spending-to-curb-rampant-youth-unemployment/a-16666033
Freeman, R. B. (2000). Disadvantaged Young Men and Crime. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Hammarström, A. (2002). Health consequences of youth unemployment—review from a gender perspective. Social Science & Medicine , 699-709.
Miskolczi, M., Langhamrová, J., & Fiala, T. (2011). International Days Of Statistics and Economics. Unemployment and GDP , 407-413.
Pritchard, C. (2014). Is there a link between suicide in young men and unemployment? A comparison of the UK with other European Community Countries. The British journal of psychiatry , 750-756.

References: Ainger, K. (2013). In Spain they are all indignados nowadays. United Kingdom: The Guardian. Aysuna, U., Bouvetb, F., & Hoflera, R. (2014). An alternative measure of structural unemployment . Economic Modelling , 592-603. Barysch, K. (2014). Can German apprenticeships fix Spain’s youth job crisis? World Economic Forum. BBC News. (2012). Germany to help Spain give skills to jobless youths. BBC. Bernal, J. A., Gasparrini, A., Artundo, C. M., & McKee, M. (2013). The effect of the late 2000s financial crisis on suicides in Spain: an interrupted time-series analysis. European Journal of Public Health . Case, K., Fair, R., & Oster, S. (2010). Principles of Economics. Prentice Hall Business Publishing. Deutsche Welle. (12 March, 2013). DW. Retrieved 8 September, 2014, from DEUTSCHE WELLE: http://www.dw.de/spain-spurs-spending-to-curb-rampant-youth-unemployment/a-16666033 Freeman, R Hammarström, A. (2002). Health consequences of youth unemployment—review from a gender perspective. Social Science & Medicine , 699-709. Miskolczi, M., Langhamrová, J., & Fiala, T. (2011). International Days Of Statistics and Economics. Unemployment and GDP , 407-413. Pritchard, C. (2014). Is there a link between suicide in young men and unemployment? A comparison of the UK with other European Community Countries. The British journal of psychiatry , 750-756.