Workers accepting employment in these occupations and industries are generally aware of these conditions, and wages are often paid accordingly. In fact, it is not unreasonable to think of seasonal unemployment as vacation time. For these reasons, seasonal unemployment is largely ignored in the study of the macroeconomy that is concerned with business-cycle instability and cyclical unemployment.

As might be expected, Shady Valley, a thriving hypothetical community with four distinct climatic seasons every year, runs rampant with seasonal unemployment. Here are a few examples:

• Harold "Hair Doo" Dueterman, the superstar outfielder of the Shady Valley Primadonnas baseball team is officially employed from April through September of each year. He is then seasonally unemployed from October to March. This particular employment schedule works out just fine for Hair Doo, as he spends the "off season" vacationing in the Bahamas with his family and members of his superstar entourage.


• Spunky and peppy Alicia Hyfield is employed during the summer months to operate the Monster Loop, Death Plunge Roller Coaster at the Shady Valley Amusement Park. This is her job and she is very good at it. But from September to May, Alicia is out of work, she is seasonally unemployed. This also works out fine for Alicia, because she uses her "off season" to attend Shady Valley High School.


• Duncan Thurly is employed as an assistant professor at the Ambling Institute of Technology during the nine-month academic semester from September through May. He occasionally picks up summer employment at the Institute teaching a class or trimming the President's grass. However, during most years, he has no summer employment and is seasonally unemployed. This is not such a bad deal for Duncan, who uses his "off season" repainting his kitchen cabinets.


• Dan Dreiling is a self-employed drywall installer. During the spring and summer months, when home construction is booming, Dan is quite active. However, during the winter months, when cold, inclement weather keeps construction down, Dan generally finds himself seasonally unemployed. Dan would rather be working during these slow periods, but he manages to get by and he earns enough during the booming months to maintain a suitable lifestyle. Like Duncan Thurly, he also using his "off season" repainting his kitchen cabinets.

The Bad

• Personal hardships, however, are a matter of degree. While some seasonally unemployed workers might prefer to remain employed, others use the unemployment as vacation time. Dan, the drywall guy, does NOT want unemployment. Hair Doo, the baseball guy, needs the off season to recover from the exertion of the season. And spunky Alicia, the roller coaster gal, would find high school exceedingly difficult if not for seasonal unemployment. All in all, personal hardships are not THAT bad for seasonal unemployment.


• However, like other forms of unemployment, lost production is important. Hair Doo, Alicia, Duncan, and Dan are NOT producing consumer-satisfying goods when they are seasonally unemployed. Society has fewer goods and less satisfaction.

The Good

And The Policies

However, this is not to say that productive innovations might not reduce and or eliminate seasonal down times and unemployment. For example, an indoor doomed baseball stadium would let Hair Doo Dueterman remain employed 12 months a year (if the public is willing to pay to see his baseball services). In a like manner, pre-fabricated housing, manufactured in an indoor factory, could eliminate Dan Dreiling's seasonal unemployment. Year-round classes would keep Duncan Thurly employed as a professor during the summer.