Long ago, the U.S. Department of Labor decided to classify people by their actions, rather than their desires. There are probably as many personal reasons for unemployment as there are people unemployed. For a farming and wood products area such as the Willamette Valley, seasonal unemployment, which results from normal seasonal patterns, will cause unemployment benefit checks to be mailed to thousands of workers. In Marion, Polk, and Yamhill counties, there are more than 20,000 persons employed in industries with significant seasonal unemployment. Other industries experience lesser seasonal patterns, but still contribute to seasonal unemployment.
Seasonal unemployment follows a generally-predictable yearly pattern.
Another type of unemployment is frictional unemployment. Frictional unemployment is generally of short duration and involves workers either just entering the labor force or moving between jobs. It includes people who quit their jobs for a better one or to move to another part of the country. Individuals tend to have more control over frictional unemployment than any other type of unemployment. During adverse economic times, frictional unemployment tends to decline as workers think carefully about switching employment when few jobs are available.