Unemployment represents a loss of revenue for society.
Bringing unused human resources back to work produces goods and services that allow the unemployed to earn a salary, firms to make profits, all levels of government to collect taxes, and those already employed to increase their hours of work. It is commonly perceived that the total cost of unemployment equals lost revenue from unproduced goods and services. However, this is but a fraction of society's loss. The social costs of unemployment must be added in order to obtain a comprehensive measure of the costs of unemployment. The social problems which generate psychological costs as well as costs related to health care, protection against crime, social tensions, human resources losses to name a few must be recognized.