📈 Economics · AS 91225 · 2.4

Unemployment (internal)

Internal 4 credits Full employment definitions Types of unemployment Labour market model PPF AS/AD Impacts on groups

AS 91225, 4 credits. NOT a "type → policy response" exercise — the real standard is CONCEPTS (definitions of full employment/unemployment, types) → CAUSES of CHANGES in unemployment explained via three named MODELS → IMPACTS of those changes on various groups in NZ society, with Excellence requiring COMPARING causes and IMPACTS against each other.

Reference sheet →

1 Reading the notation

Concepts, then causes of CHANGE via three named models, then impacts on groups — not "type matched to policy".

📖 Terms the schedule grades you on

5 terms

Analyse (Achieved): Identify/define/describe concepts; explain causes of change via models; explain impacts on groups.
In depth (Merit): DETAILED explanation of causes and impacts.
Comprehensively (Excellence): COMPARE/CONTRAST causes' impact on unemployment; compare/contrast impacts on groups; INTEGRATE model changes.
Concepts (note 4, closed): Different definitions of full employment/unemployment; types of involuntary unemployment.
Models (note 5, closed): Labour market supply/demand; PPF; AS/AD (deriving the curves is NOT required).

2 Definitions and types

Full employment is not zero unemployment — knowing what a definition excludes is the concept being tested. ✕

Treating this as a "types → policy" standard

The old framing — identify the type of unemployment, then match a policy response — belongs to a DIFFERENT standard (policy sits in AS91227). This standard's own components are concepts, causes of CHANGE via the three named models, and impacts on GROUPS — no policy-matching component appears anywhere in its notes.

3 Causes of change, via the three named models

Labour market supply/demand, the PPF, and AS/AD — a closed list of three.

Model	What it shows	Excellence not required
Labour market S/D	A shift (e.g. minimum wage, demand shock) and the resulting surplus/shortage of labour	n/a
PPF	The gap between actual output and potential output as unemployed resources	n/a
AS/AD	A shift in AD/AS and the resulting change in output and cyclical unemployment	Deriving the curves is explicitly NOT required

4 Impacts on groups, and comparing them

Name the specific group and the specific mechanism — then, for Excellence, weigh one against another.

Groups worth naming

Unemployed people themselves — income, skills, wellbeing.
Government — benefit spending, tax revenue, the fiscal balance.
Businesses — demand for output, labour costs.
Wider society — lost output, inequality.

Practice

Recall it first, then use it — testing yourself builds the memory, where rereading the notes above only feels easier.

Recall and application shuffled together — you have to work out what each item wants before you can answer it, which is the part the exam actually tests. Both kinds feed the same spacing schedule, so anything you miss comes back sooner.

Say the answer out loud before flipping — that attempt is where the learning happens, even when you get it wrong.

Exam-style only. Instant feedback, shuffled each attempt, best score saved on this device.

Past exams & resources

NZQA 91225 assessment resources Internal — check the current standard and exemplars