Unemployment (or joblessness), as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively looked for work within the past four weeks. The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment and it is calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed individuals by all individuals currently in the labour force.

There remains considerable theoretical debate regarding the causes, consequences and solutions for unemployment. Classical, neoclassical and the Austrian School of economics focus on market mechanisms and rely on the invisible hand of the market to resolve unemployment. These theories argue against interventions imposed on the labour market from the outside, such as unionization, minimum wage laws, taxes, and other regulations that they claim discourage the hiring of workers. Keynesian economics emphasizes the cyclical nature of unemployment and potential interventions to reduce unemployment during recessions. These arguments focus on recurrent supply shocks that suddenly reduce aggregate demand for goods and services and thus reduce demand for workers. Keynesian models recommend government interventions designed to increase demand for workers; these can include financial stimuli, job creation, and expansionist monetary policies. Marxism focuses on the relations between the controlling owners and the subordinated proletariat whom the owners pit against one another in a constant struggle for jobs and higher wages. This struggle and the unemployment it produces benefit the system by reducing wage costs for the owners. For Marxists the causes of and solutions to unemployment require abolishing capitalism and shifting to socialism or communism.

In addition to these three comprehensive theories of unemployment, there are a few types of unemployment that are used to more precisely model the effects of unemployment within the economic system. The main types of unemployment include structural unemployment which focuses on structural problems in the economy and inefficiencies inherent in labour markets including a mismatch between the supply and demand of laborers with necessary skill sets. Structural arguments emphasize causes and solutions related to disruptive technologies and globalization. Discussions of frictional unemployment focus on voluntary decisions to work based on each individuals' valuation of their own work and how that compares to current wage rates plus the time and effort required to find a job. Causes and solutions for frictional unemployment often address barriers to entry and wage rates. Behavioral economists highlight individual biases in decision making and often involve problems and solutions concerning sticky wages and efficiency wages.

History

In traditional societies, salaried jobs did not exist, as money was not in use. These cultures lived off the land directly, and the land belonged to the tribe or to no one. Everyone knew how to build shelter and make food. When these cultures invented currency and moved to the cities, they began to depend on money to buy food from a middle man, instead of growing, gathering, or hunting the food directly from nature. Dependence on jobs to make money to buy food and shelter was the beginning of unemployment.

Because it has not always been acknowledged or measured systematically, there are limited historical records on unemployment. Industrialization involves economies of scale that often prevent individuals from having the capital to create their own jobs to be self-employed. An individual who cannot either join an enterprise or create a job is unemployed. As individual farmers, ranchers, spinners, doctors and merchants are organized into large enterprises, those who cannot join or compete become unemployed.

Recognition of unemployment occurred slowly as economies across the world industrialized and bureaucratized. The recognition of the concept of "unemployment" is best exemplified through the well documented historical records in England. For example, in 16th century England no distinction was made between vagrants and the jobless; both were simply categorized as "sturdy beggars", to be punished and moved on. The closing of the monasteries in the 1530s increased poverty, as the church had helped the poor. In addition, there was a significant rise in enclosure during the Tudor period. Also the population was rising. Those unable to find work had a stark choice: starve or break the law. In 1535, a bill was drawn up calling for the creation of a system of public works to deal with the problem of unemployment, to be funded by a tax on income and capital. A law passed a year later allowed vagabonds to be whipped and hanged. In 1547, a bill was passed that subjected vagrants to some of the more extreme provisions of the criminal law, namely two years servitude and branding with a "V" as the penalty for the first offense and death for the second. During the reign of Henry VIII, as many as 72,000 people are estimated to have been executed. In the 1576 Act each town was required to provide work for the unemployed. The Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601, one of the world's first government-sponsored welfare programs, made a clear distinction between those who were unable to work and those able-bodied people who refused employment. Under the Poor Law systems of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland a workhouse was a place where people who were unable to support themselves, could go to live and work. According to Jackson J. Spielvogel, "Poverty was a highly visible problem in the eighteenth century, both in cities and in the countryside...In France and Britain by the end of the century, an estimated 10 percent of the people depended on charity or begging for their food." By 1776 some 1,912 parish and corporation workhouses had been established in England and Wales, housing almost 100,000 paupers.

The decade of the 1930s saw the Great Depression impact unemployment across the globe. One Soviet trading corporation in New York averaged 350 applications a day from Americans seeking jobs in the Soviet Union. In Germany the unemployment rate reached nearly 25% in 1932. In some towns and cities in the north east of England, unemployment reached as high as 70%; the national unemployment level peaked at more than 22% in 1932. Unemployment in Canada reached 27% at the depth of the Depression in 1933. In 1929, the U.S. unemployment rate averaged 3%. In 1932, 25% of all American workers and 37% of all nonfarm workers were unemployed. In Cleveland, Ohio, the unemployment rate was 60%; in Toledo, Ohio, 80%. There were two million homeless people migrating across the United States. Over 3 million unemployed young men were taken out of the cities and placed into 2600+ work camps managed by the CCC.

About 25 million people in the world's 30 richest countries will have lost their jobs between the end of 2007 and the end of 2010 as the economic downturn pushes most countries into recession. In April 2010, the U.S. unemployment rate was 9.9%, but the government’s broader U-6 unemployment rate was 17.1%. There are six unemployed people, on average, for each available job. Men account for at least 7 of 10 workers who lost jobs, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The youth unemployment rate was 18.5% in July 2009, the highest July rate since 1948. 34.5% of young African American men were unemployed in October 2009. Officially, Detroit’s unemployment rate is 27%, but the ''Detroit News'' suggests that nearly half of this city’s working-age population may be unemployed. 3.8 million Americans lost their jobs in 2009.

Unemployment in the United Kingdom fell later in the 1930s as the depression eased, and remained low (in six figures) after World War II. However, by 1972 it had crept back up above 1,000,000, and was even higher by the end of the decade, with inflation also being high. Although the monetarist economic policies of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government saw inflation reduced after 1979, unemployment soared in the early 1980s, exceeding 3,000,000 - a level not seen for some 50 years - by 1982. This represented one in eight of the workforce, with unemployment exceeding 20% in some parts of the United Kingdom which had relied on the now-declining industries such as coal mining. However, this was a time of high unemployment in all major industrialised nations. By the spring of 1983, unemployment in the United Kingdom had risen by 6% in the previous 12 months; compared to 10% in Japan, 23% in the United States of America and 34% in West Germany (seven years before reunification).

Unemployment in the United Kingdom remained above 3,000,000 until the spring of 1987, by which time the economy was enjoying a boom. By the end of 1989, unemployment had fallen to 1,600,000. However, inflation had reached 7.8% and the following year it reached a nine-year high of 9.5%; leading to increased interest rates. Another recession began during 1990 and lasted until 1992. Unemployment began to increase and by the end of 1992 nearly 3,000,000 in the United Kingdom were unemployed. Then came a strong economic recovery. With inflation down to 1.6% by 1993, unemployment then began to fall rapidly, standing at 1,800,000 by early 1997.

The official unemployment rate in the 16 EU countries that use the euro rose to 10% in December 2009 as a result of another recession. Latvia had the highest unemployment rate in EU at 22.3% for November 2009. Europe's young workers have been especially hard hit. In November 2009, the unemployment rate in the EU27 for those aged 15–24 was 18.3%. For those under 25, the unemployment rate in Spain was 43.8%.

Into the 21st century, unemployment in the United Kingdom remained low and the economy remaining strong, while at this time several other European economies - namely France and Germany (reunified a decade earlier) - experienced a minor recession and a substantial rise in unemployment.

In 2008, when the recession brought on another increase in the United Kingdom, after 15 years of economic growth and no major rises in unemployment. Early in 2009, unemployment passed the 2,000,000 mark, by which time economists were predicting it would soon reach 3,000,000. However, the end of the recession was declared in January 2010 and unemployment peaked at 2,500,000 shortly afterwards, appearing to ease fears of unemployment reaching 3,000,000.

A flood of inexpensive consumer goods from China has recently encountered criticism from Europe, the United States and some African countries. As of April 26, 2005 ''Asia Times'' article notes that, "In regional giant South Africa, some 300,000 textile workers have lost their jobs in the past two years due to the influx of Chinese goods". The increasing U.S. trade deficit with China has cost 2.4 million American jobs between 2001 and 2008, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). From 2000 to 2007, the United States had lost a total of 3.2 million manufacturing jobs.

Definitions, types and theories

Economists distinguish between various overlapping types of and theories of unemployment, including cyclical or Keynesian unemployment, frictional unemployment, structural unemployment and classical unemployment. Some additional types of unemployment that are occasionally mentioned are seasonal unemployment, hardcore unemployment, and hidden unemployment. The U.S. BLS measures six types of unemployment, U1-U6.

Though there have been several definitions of voluntary and involuntary unemployment in the economics literature, a simple distinction is often applied. Voluntary unemployment is attributed to the individual's decisions, whereas involuntary unemployment exists because of the socio-economic environment (including the market structure, government intervention, and the level of aggregate demand) in which individuals operate. In these terms, much or most of frictional unemployment is voluntary, since it reflects individual search behavior. Voluntary unemployment includes workers who reject low wage jobs whereas involuntary unemployment includes workers fired due to an economic crisis, industrial decline, company bankruptcy, or organizational restructuring.

On the other hand, cyclical unemployment, structural unemployment, and classical unemployment are largely involuntary in nature. However, the existence of structural unemployment may reflect choices made by the unemployed in the past, while classical (natural) unemployment may result from the legislative and economic choices made by labour unions or political parties. So, in practice, the distinction between voluntary and involuntary unemployment is hard to draw. The clearest cases of involuntary unemployment are those where there are fewer job vacancies than unemployed workers even when wages are allowed to adjust, so that even if all vacancies were to be filled, some unemployed workers would still remain. This happens with cyclical unemployment, as macroeconomic forces cause microeconomic unemployment which can boomerang back and exacerbate these macroeconomic forces.

Classical unemployment

Classical or real-wage unemployment occurs when real wages for a job are set above the market-clearing level, causing the number of job-seekers to exceed the number of vacancies.

Most economists have argued that unemployment increases the more the government intervenes into the economy to try to improve the conditions of those without jobs. For example, minimum wage laws raise the cost of laborers with few skills to above the market equilibrium, resulting in people who wish to work at the going rate but cannot as wage enforced is greater than their value as workers becoming unemployed. Laws restricting layoffs made businesses less likely to hire in the first place, as hiring becomes more risky, leaving many young people unemployed and unable to find work.

However, this argument is criticized for ignoring numerous external factors and overly simplifying the relationship between wage rates and unemployment- in other words, that other factors may also affect unemployment. Some, such as Murray Rothbard, suggest that even social taboos can prevent wages from falling to the market clearing level. It is noted that there can be unemployment when job market is in equilibrium. For example, the salary of appliance repairman in a city is $3,000. At this salary, the appliance stores of city want to hire 100 repairmen. But there are 300 repairmen looking for jobs within the city. So there are 200 repairmen looking for jobs are unemployed. At this time, job market is not in equilibrium. But six months later, the salary of appliance repairman in this city drop to $1,000. At this salary, the appliance stores of city want to hire 200 repairmen. There are 200 repairman want to accept jobs. For the rest 100 repairmen, they no longer want to work for this kind of job because the salary is too low. By this time, job market reaches equilibrium. But there are still 100 repairmen unemployed because they no longer want to work for this kind of job.

Cyclical or Keynesian unemployment

thumb|right|200px|The ''IS-LM Model'' is used to analyze the effect of demand shocks on the economy.Cyclical or Keynesian unemployment, also known as deficient-demand unemployment, occurs when there is not enough aggregate demand in the economy to provide jobs for everyone who wants to work. Demand for most goods and services falls, less production is needed and consequently fewer workers are needed, wages are sticky and do not fall to meet the equilibrium level, and mass unemployment results. Its name is derived from the frequent shifts in the business cycle although unemployment can also be persistent as occurred during the Great Depression of the 1930s. With cyclical unemployment, the number of unemployed workers exceeds the number of job vacancies, so that even if full employment were attained and all open jobs were filled, some workers would still remain unemployed. Some associate cyclical unemployment with frictional unemployment because the factors that cause the friction are partially due to cyclical variables. For example, a surprise decrease in the money supply may shock rational economic actors and suddenly inhibit aggregate demand.

Classical economists reject the conception of cyclical unemployment and alternatively suggest that the invisible hand of free markets will respond quickly to unemployment and underutilization of resources by a fall in wages followed by a rise in employment. Similarly, Hayek and others from the Austrian school of economics argue that if governments intervene through monetary policy to lower interests rates this will exacerbate unemployment by preventing the market from responding effectively.

Keynesian economists on the other hand see the lack of demand for jobs as potentially resolvable by government intervention. One suggested interventions involves deficit spending to boost employment and demand. Another intervention involves an expansionary monetary policy that increases the demand of money which should reduce interest rates which should lead to an increase in non-governmental spending.

Marxist theory of unemployment

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According to Karl Marx, unemployment is inherent within the unstable capitalist system and periodic crises of mass unemployment are to be expected. The function of the proletariat within the capitalist system is to provide a "reserve army of labour" that creates downward pressure on wages. This is accomplished by dividing the proletariat into surplus labour (employees) and under-employment (unemployed). This reserve army of labour fight among themselves for scarce jobs at lower and lower wages. At first glance, unemployment seems inefficient since unemployed workers do not increase profits. However, unemployment is profitable within the global capitalist system because unemployment lowers wages which are costs from the perspective of the owners. From this perspective low wages benefit the system by reducing economic rents. Yet, it does not benefit workers. Capitalist systems unfairly manipulate the market for labour by perpetuating unemployment which lowers laborers' demands for fair wages. Workers are pitted against one another at the service of increasing profits for owners.

According to Marx, the only way to permanently eliminate unemployment would be to abolish capitalism and the system of forced competition for wages and then shift to a socialist or communist economic system. For contemporary Marxists, the existence of persistent unemployment is proof of the inability of capitalism to ensure full employment.

Involuntary unemployment

In ''The General Theory'', Keynes argued that neo-classical economic theory did not apply during recessions because of excessive savings and weak private investment in an economy. In consequence, people could be thrown out of work involuntarily and not be able to find acceptable new employment.

This conflict between the neoclassical and Keynesian theories has had strong influence on government policy. The tendency for government is to curtail and eliminate unemployment through increases in benefits and government jobs, and to encourage the job-seeker to both consider new careers and relocation to another city.

Involuntary unemployment does not exist in agrarian societies nor is it formally recognized to exist in underdeveloped but urban societies, such as the mega-cities of Africa and of India/Pakistan. In such societies, a suddenly unemployed person must meet their survival needs either by getting a new job at any price, becoming an entrepreneur, or joining the underground economy of the hustler.

Involuntary unemployment is discussed from the narrative standpoint in stories by Ehrenreich, the narrative sociology of Bourdieu, and novels of social suffering such as John Steinbeck's ''The Grapes of Wrath''.

Full employment

In demand-based theory, it is possible to abolish cyclical unemployment by increasing the aggregate demand for products and workers. However, eventually the economy hits an "inflation barrier" imposed by the four other kinds of unemployment to the extent that they exist.

Some demand theory economists see the inflation barrier as corresponding to the natural rate of unemployment. The "natural" rate of unemployment is defined as the rate of unemployment that exists when the labour market is in equilibrium and there is pressure for neither rising inflation rates nor falling inflation rates. An alternative technical term for this rate is the NAIRU or the Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment.

No matter what its name, demand theory holds that this means that if the unemployment rate gets "too low," inflation will get worse and worse (accelerate) in the absence of wage and price controls (incomes policies).

One of the major problems with the NAIRU theory is that no one knows exactly what the NAIRU is (while it clearly changes over time). The margin of error can be quite high relative to the actual unemployment rate, making it hard to use the NAIRU in policy-making.

Another, normative, definition of full employment might be called the ''ideal'' unemployment rate. It would exclude all types of unemployment that represent forms of inefficiency. This type of "full employment" unemployment would correspond to only frictional unemployment (excluding that part encouraging the McJobs management strategy) and would thus be very low. However, it would be impossible to attain this full-employment target using only demand-side Keynesian stimulus without getting below the NAIRU and suffering from accelerating inflation (absent incomes policies). Training programs aimed at fighting structural unemployment would help here.

To the extent that hidden unemployment exists, it implies that official unemployment statistics provide a poor guide to what unemployment rate coincides with "full employment".

Structural unemployment

thumb|Okun's Law interprets unemployment as a function of growth in GNPthumb|130px|"Driver looking for work" Unemployed German laborer in 1949Structural unemployment occurs when a labour market is unable to provide jobs for everyone who wants one because there is a mismatch between the skills of the unemployed workers and the skills needed for the available jobs. Structural unemployment is hard to separate empirically from frictional unemployment, except to say that it lasts longer. As with frictional unemployment, simple demand-side stimulus will not work to easily abolish this type of unemployment.

Structural unemployment may also be encouraged to rise by persistent cyclical unemployment: if an economy suffers from long-lasting low aggregate demand, it means that many of the unemployed become disheartened, while their skills (including job-searching skills) become "rusty" and obsolete. Problems with debt may lead to homelessness and a fall into the vicious circle of poverty. This means that they may not fit the job vacancies that are created when the economy recovers. Some economists see this scenario as occurring under British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during the 1970s and 1980s. The implication is that sustained ''high'' demand may ''lower'' structural unemployment. This theory of persistence in structural unemployment has been referred to as an example of path dependence or "hysteresis".

Much technological unemployment (e.g. due to the replacement of workers by machines) might be counted as structural unemployment. Alternatively, technological unemployment might refer to the way in which steady increases in labour productivity mean that fewer workers are needed to produce the same level of output every year. The fact that aggregate demand can be raised to deal with this problem suggests that this problem is instead one of cyclical unemployment. As indicated by Okun's Law, the demand side must grow sufficiently quickly to absorb not only the growing labour force but also the workers made redundant by increased labour productivity. Otherwise, we see a jobless recovery such as those seen in the United States in both the early 1990s and the early 21st century.

Technological unemployment has historically been temporary and the economy has adapted and created jobs in other sectors, however, some analysts, such as Martin Ford, in ''The Lights in the Tunnel: Automation, Accelerating Technology and the Economy of the Future'' argue that many jobs in the economy will ultimately be automated via advancing technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence resulting in substantial, permanent structural unemployment.

Seasonal unemployment may be seen as a kind of structural unemployment, since it is a type of unemployment that is linked to certain kinds of jobs (construction work, migratory farm work). The most-cited official unemployment measures erase this kind of unemployment from the statistics using "seasonal adjustment" techniques.

Frictional unemployment

Frictional unemployment is the time period between jobs when a worker is searching for, or transitioning from one job to another. It is sometimes called search unemployment and can be voluntary based on the circumstances of the unemployed individual. Frictional unemployment is always present in an economy, so the level of involuntary unemployment is properly the unemployment rate minus the rate of frictional unemployment, which means that increases or decreases in unemployment are normally under-represented in the simple statistics.

Frictional unemployment exists because both jobs and workers are heterogeneous, and a mismatch can result between the characteristics of supply and demand. Such a mismatch can be related to skills, payment, work-time, location, seasonal industries, attitude, taste, and a multitude of other factors. New entrants (such as graduating students) and re-entrants (such as former homemakers) can also suffer a spell of frictional unemployment. Workers as well as employers accept a certain level of imperfection, risk or compromise, but usually not right away; they will invest some time and effort to find a better match. This is in fact beneficial to the economy since it results in a better allocation of resources. However, if the search takes too long and mismatches are too frequent, the economy suffers, since some work will not get done. Therefore, governments will seek ways to reduce unnecessary frictional unemployment through multiple means including providing education, advice, training, and assistance such as daycare centers.

The frictions in the labour market are sometimes illustrated graphically with a Beveridge curve, a downward-sloping, convex curve that shows a correlation between the unemployment rate on one axis and the vacancy rate on the other. Changes in the supply of or demand for labour cause movements along this curve. An increase (decrease) in labour market frictions will shift the curve outwards (inwards).

Hidden unemployment

Hidden, or covered, unemployment is the unemployment of potential workers that is not reflected in official unemployment statistics, due to the way the statistics are collected. In many countries only those who have no work but are actively looking for work (and/or qualifying for social security benefits) are counted as unemployed. Those who have given up looking for work (and sometimes those who are on Government "retraining" programs) are not officially counted among the unemployed, even though they are not employed. The same applies to those who have taken early retirement to avoid being laid off, but would prefer to be working. The statistic also does not count the "underemployed" - those with part time or seasonal jobs who would rather have full time jobs. In addition, those who are of working age but are currently in full-time education are usually not considered unemployed in government statistics. Because of hidden unemployment, official statistics often underestimate unemployment rates.

Long-term unemployment

This is normally defined, for instance in European Union statistics, as unemployment lasting for longer than one year. It is an important indicator of social exclusion. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports this as 27 weeks or longer.

Measurement

There are also different ways national statistical agencies measure unemployment. These differences may limit the validity of international comparisons of unemployment data. To some degree these differences remain despite national statistical agencies increasingly adopting the definition of unemployment by the International Labour Organization. To facilitate international comparisons, some organizations, such as the OECD, Eurostat, and International Labor Comparisons Program, adjust data on unemployment for comparability across countries.

Though many people care about the number of unemployed individuals, economists typically focus on the unemployment rate. This corrects for the normal increase in the number of people employed due to increases in population and increases in the labour force relative to the population. The unemployment rate is expressed as a percentage, and is calculated as follows:

$\backslash text\{Unemployment\; rate\}=\backslash frac\{\backslash text\{Unemployed\; workers\}\}\{\backslash text\{Total\; labour\; force\}\}$

As defined by the International Labour Organization, "unemployed workers" are those who are currently not working but are willing and able to work for pay, currently available to work, and have actively searched for work. Individuals who are actively seeking job placement must make the effort to: be in contact with an employer, have job interviews, contact job placement agencies, send out resumes, submit applications, respond to advertisements, or some other means of active job searching within the prior four weeks. Simply looking at advertisements and not responding will not count as actively seeking job placement. Since not all unemployment may be "open" and counted by government agencies, official statistics on unemployment may not be accurate.

The ILO describes 4 different methods to calculate the unemployment rate:

''Labour Force Sample Surveys'' are the most preferred method of unemployment rate calculation since they give the most comprehensive results and enables calculation of unemployment by different group categories such as race and gender. This method is the most internationally comparable.

''Official Estimates'' are determined by a combination of information from one or more of the other three methods. The use of this method has been declining in favor of Labour Surveys.

''Social Insurance Statistics'' such as unemployment benefits, are computed base on the number of persons insured representing the total labour force and the number of persons who are insured that are collecting benefits. This method has been heavily criticized due to the expiration of benefits before the person finds work.

''Employment Office Statistics'' are the least effective being that they only include a monthly tally of unemployed persons who enter employment offices. This method also includes unemployed who are not unemployed per the ILO definition.

The primary measure of unemployment, U3, allows for comparisons between countries. Unemployment differs from country to country and across different time periods. For example, during the 1990s and 2000s, the United States had lower unemployment levels than many countries in the European Union, which had significant internal variation, with countries like the UK and Denmark outperforming Italy and France. However, large economic events such as the Great Depression can lead to similar unemployment rates across the globe.

European Union (Eurostat)

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, defines unemployed as those persons age 15 to 74 who are not working, have looked for work in the last four weeks, and ready to start work within two weeks, which conform to ILO standards. Both the actual count and rate of unemployment are reported. Statistical data are available by member state, for the European Union as a whole (EU27) as well as for the euro area (EA16). Eurostat also includes a long-term unemployment rate. This is defined as part of the unemployed who have been unemployed for an excess of 1 year.

The main source used is the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS). The EU-LFS collects data on all member states each quarter. For monthly calculations, national surveys or national registers from employment offices are used in conjunction with quarterly EU-LFS data. The exact calculation for individual countries, resulting in harmonized monthly data, depend on the availability of the data.

United States Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures employment and unemployment (of those over 15 years of age) using two different labour force surveys conducted by the United States Census Bureau (within the United States Department of Commerce) and/or the Bureau of Labor Statistics (within the United States Department of Labor) that gather employment statistics monthly. The Current Population Survey (CPS), or "Household Survey", conducts a survey based on a sample of 60,000 households. This Survey measures the unemployment rate based on the ILO definition. The Current Employment Statistics survey (CES), or "Payroll Survey", conducts a survey based on a sample of 160,000 businesses and government agencies that represent 400,000 individual employers. This survey measures only nonagricultural, nonsupervisory employment; thus, it does not calculate an unemployment rate, and it differs from the ILO unemployment rate definition. These two sources have different classification criteria, and usually produce differing results. Additional data are also available from the government, such as the unemployment insurance weekly claims report available from the Office of Workforce Security, within the U.S. Department of Labor Employment & Training Administration. The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides up-to-date numbers via a pdf linked here. The BLS also provides a readable concise current Employment Situation Summary, updated monthly.

The BLS also calculates six alternate measures of unemployment, U1 through U6, that measure different aspects of unemployment:

U1: Percentage of labour force unemployed 15 weeks or longer.

U2: Percentage of labour force who lost jobs or completed temporary work.

U3: Official unemployment rate per the ILO definition occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively looked for work within the past four weeks.

U4: U3 + "discouraged workers", or those who have stopped looking for work because current economic conditions make them believe that no work is available for them.

U5: U4 + other "marginally attached workers", or "loosely attached workers", or those who "would like" and are able to work, but have not looked for work recently.

U6: U5 + Part time workers who want to work full time, but cannot due to economic reasons (underemployment).

''Note: "Marginally attached workers" are added to the total labour force for unemployment rate calculation for U4, U5, and U6.'' The BLS revised the CPS in 1994 and among the changes the measure representing the official unemployment rate was renamed U3 instead of U5.

Statistics for the U.S. economy as a whole hide variations among groups. For example, in January 2008 U.S. unemployment rates were 4.4% for adult men, 4.2% for adult women, 4.4% for Caucasians, 6.3% for Hispanics or Latinos (all races), 9.2% for African Americans, 3.2% for Asian Americans, and 18.0% for teenagers. Also, the U.S. unemployment rate would be at least 2% higher if prisoners and jail inmates were counted.

The unemployment rate is included in a number of major economic indexes including the United States' Conference Board's Index of Leading Indicators a macroeconomic measure of the state of the economy.

Limitations of the unemployment definition

The unemployment rate may be different from the impact of the economy on people. The unemployment figures indicate how many are not working for pay but seeking employment for pay. It is only indirectly connected with the number of people who are actually not working at all or working without pay. Therefore, critics believe that current methods of measuring unemployment are inaccurate in terms of the impact of unemployment on people as these methods do not take into account the 1.5% of the available working population incarcerated in U.S. prisons (who may or may not be working while incarcerated), those who have lost their jobs and have become discouraged over time from actively looking for work, those who are self-employed or wish to become self-employed, such as tradesmen or building contractors or IT consultants, those who have retired before the official retirement age but would still like to work (involuntary early retirees), those on disability pensions who, while not possessing full health, still wish to work in occupations suitable for their medical conditions, those who work for payment for as little as one hour per week but would like to work full-time. These people are "involuntary part-time" workers, those who are underemployed, e.g., a computer programmer who is working in a retail store until he can find a permanent job, involuntary stay-at-home mothers who would prefer to work, and graduate and Professional school students who were unable to find worthwhile jobs after they graduated with their Bachelor's degrees.

Internationally, some nations' unemployment rates are sometimes muted or appear less severe due to the number of self-employed individuals working in agriculture. Small independent farmers are often considered self-employed; so, they cannot be unemployed. The impact of this is that in non-industrialized economies, such as the United States and Europe during the early 19th century, overall unemployment was approximately 3% because so many individuals were self-employed, independent farmers; yet, unemployment outside of agriculture was as high as 80%. Many economies industrialize and experience increasing numbers of non-agricultural workers. For example, the United States' non-agricultural labour force increased from 20% in 1800, to 50% in 1850, to 97% in 2000. The shift away from self-employment increases the percentage of the population who are included in unemployment rates. When comparing unemployment rates between countries or time periods, it is best to consider differences in their levels of industrialization and self-employment.

Additionally, the measures of employment and unemployment may be "too high". In some countries, the availability of unemployment benefits can inflate statistics since they give an incentive to register as unemployed. People who do not really seek work may choose to declare themselves unemployed so as to get benefits; people with undeclared paid occupations may try to get unemployment benefits in addition to the money they earn from their work.

However, in countries such as the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan and the European Union, unemployment is measured using a sample survey (akin to a Gallup poll). According to the BLS, a number of Eastern European nations have instituted labour force surveys as well. The sample survey has its own problems because the total number of workers in the economy is calculated based on a sample rather than a census.

It is possible to be neither employed nor unemployed by ILO definitions, i.e., to be outside of the "labour force." These are people who have no job and are not looking for one. Many of these are going to school or are retired. Family responsibilities keep others out of the labour force. Still others have a physical or mental disability which prevents them from participating in labour force activities. And of course some people simply elect not to work, preferring to be dependent on others for sustenance.

Typically, employment and the labour force include only work done for monetary gain. Hence, a homemaker is neither part of the labour force nor unemployed. Nor are full-time students nor prisoners considered to be part of the labour force or unemployment. The latter can be important. In 1999, economists Lawrence F. Katz and Alan B. Krueger estimated that increased incarceration lowered measured unemployment in the United States by 0.17% between 1985 and the late 1990s. In particular, as of 2005, roughly 0.7% of the U.S. population is incarcerated (1.5% of the available working population). Additionally, children, the elderly, and some individuals with disabilities are typically not counted as part of the labour force in and are correspondingly not included in the unemployment statistics. However, some elderly and many disabled individuals are active in the labour market

In the early stages of an economic boom, unemployment often rises. This is because people join the labour market (give up studying, start a job hunt, etc.) because of the improving job market, but until they have actually found a position they are counted as unemployed. Similarly, during a recession, the increase in the unemployment rate is moderated by people leaving the labour force or being otherwise discounted from the labour force, such as with the self-employed.

For the fourth quarter of 2004, according to OECD, (source Employment Outlook 2005 ISBN 92-64-01045-9), normalized unemployment for men aged 25 to 54 was 4.6% in the U.S. and 7.4% in France. At the same time and for the same population the employment rate (number of workers divided by population) was 86.3% in the U.S. and 86.7% in France. This example shows that the unemployment rate is 60% higher in France than in the U.S., yet more people in this demographic are working in France than in the U.S., which is counterintuitive if it is expected that the unemployment rate reflects the health of the labour market.

Due to these deficiencies, many labour market economists prefer to look at a range of economic statistics such as labour market participation rate, the percentage of people aged between 15 and 64 who are currently employed or searching for employment, the total number of full-time jobs in an economy, the number of people seeking work as a raw number and not a percentage, and the total number of person-hours worked in a month compared to the total number of person-hours people would like to work. In particular the NBER does not use the unemployment rate but prefer various employment rates to date recessions.

Effects

Costs

Individual

Unemployed individuals are unable to earn money to meet financial obligations. Failure to pay mortgage payments or to pay rent may lead to homelessness through foreclosure or eviction. Across the United States the growing ranks of people made homeless in the foreclosure crisis are generating tent cities. Unemployment increases susceptibility to malnutrition, illness, mental stress, and loss of self-esteem, leading to depression. According to a study published in Social Indicator Research, even those who tend to be optimistic find it difficult to look on the bright side of things when unemployed. Using interviews and data from German participants aged 16 to 94 – including individuals coping with the stresses of real life and not just a volunteering student population – the researchers determined that even optimists struggled with being unemployed.

Dr. M. Brenner conducted a study in 1979 on the "Influence of the Social Environment on Psychology." Brenner found that for every 10% increase in the number of unemployed there is an increase of 1.2% in total mortality, a 1.7% increase in cardiovascular disease, 1.3% more cirrhosis cases, 1.7% more suicides, 4.0% more arrests, and 0.8% more assaults reported to the police. A more recent study by Christopher Ruhm on the effect of recessions on health found that several measures of health actually improve during recessions. As for the impact of an economic downturn on crime, during the Great Depression the crime rate did not decrease. Because unemployment insurance in the U.S. typically does not replace 50% of the income one received on the job (and one cannot receive it forever), the unemployed often end up tapping welfare programs such as Food Stamps or accumulating debt.

Not everyone suffers equally from unemployment. In a prospective study of 9570 individuals over four years, highly conscientiousness people suffered more than twice as much if they became unemployed. The authors suggested this may be due to conscientious people making different attributions about why they became unemployed, or through experiencing stronger reactions following failure.

Some hold that many of the low-income jobs are not really a better option than unemployment with a welfare state (with its unemployment insurance benefits). But since it is difficult or impossible to get unemployment insurance benefits without having worked in the past, these jobs and unemployment are more complementary than they are substitutes. (These jobs are often held short-term, either by students or by those trying to gain experience; turnover in most low-paying jobs is high.)

Another cost for the unemployed is that the combination of unemployment, lack of financial resources, and social responsibilities may push unemployed workers to take jobs that do not fit their skills or allow them to use their talents. Unemployment can cause underemployment, and fear of job loss can spur psychological anxiety.

Social

An economy with high unemployment is not using all of the resources, specifically labour, available to it. Since it is operating below its production possibility frontier, it could have higher output if all the workforce were usefully employed. However, there is a trade-off between economic efficiency and unemployment: if the frictionally unemployed accepted the first job they were offered, they would be likely to be operating at below their skill level, reducing the economy's efficiency.

During a long period of unemployment, workers can lose their skills, causing a loss of human capital. Being unemployed can also reduce the life expectancy of workers by about 7 years.

High unemployment can encourage xenophobia and protectionism as workers fear that foreigners are stealing their jobs. Efforts to preserve existing jobs of domestic and native workers include legal barriers against "outsiders" who want jobs, obstacles to immigration, and/or tariffs and similar trade barriers against foreign competitors.

High unemployment can also cause social problems such as crime; if people don't have as much disposable income as before, then it is very likely that crime levels within the economy will increase.

Socio-political

High levels of unemployment can be causes of civil unrest, in some cases leading to revolution, and particularly totalitarianism. The fall of the Weimar Republic in 1933 and Adolf Hitler's rise to power, which culminated in World War II and the deaths of tens of millions and the destruction of much of the physical capital of Europe, is attributed to the poor economic conditions in Germany at the time, notably a high unemployment rate of above 20%; see Great Depression in Central Europe for details.

Note that the hyperinflation in the Weimar republic is not directly blamed for the Nazi rise – the Inflation in the Weimar Republic occurred primarily in the period 1921–23, which was contemporary with Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, and is blamed for damaging the credibility of democratic institutions, but the Nazi party only assumed government in 1933, 10 years after the hyperinflation but in the midst of high unemployment.

Benefits

Unemployment is argued to be "beneficial" to the people who are not unemployed in the sense that it averts inflation, which itself has damaging effects, by providing (in Marxian terms) a reserve army of labour, that keeps wages in check. However the direct connection between full local employment and local inflation has been disputed by some due to the recent increase in international trade that supplies low-priced goods even while local employment rates rise to full employment.

thumb|In the [[Joseph Stiglitz#Efficiency wages: the Shapiro-Stiglitz model|Shapiro-Stiglitz model of efficiency wages, workers are paid at a level that dissuades shirking. This prevents wages from dropping to market clearing levels. Full employment cannot be achieved because workers would shirk if they were not threatened with the possibility of unemployment. Because of this, the curve for the no-shirking condition (labeled NSC) goes to infinity at full employment.]] The inflation-fighting benefits to the ''entire economy'' arising from a presumed optimum level of unemployment has been studied extensively. The Shapiro-Stiglitz model suggests that wages are not bid down sufficiently to ever reach 0% unemployment. This occurs because employers know that when wages decrease, workers will shirk and expend less effort. Employers avoid shirking by preventing wages from decreasing so low that workers give up and become unproductive. These higher wages perpetuate unemployment while the threat of unemployment reduces shirking.

Before current levels of world trade were developed, unemployment was demonstrated to reduce inflation, following the Phillips curve, or to decelerate inflation, following the NAIRU/natural rate of unemployment theory, since it is relatively easy to seek a new job without losing one's current one. And when more jobs are available for fewer workers (lower unemployment), it may allow workers to find the jobs that better fit their tastes, talents, and needs.

As in the Marxist theory of unemployment, special interests may also benefit: some employers may expect that employees with no fear of losing their jobs will not work as hard, or will demand increased wages and benefit. According to this theory, unemployment may promote general labour productivity and profitability by increasing employers' rationale for their monopsony-like power (and profits). However the tool of denying jobs to willing workers seems a blunt instrument for conserving resources and the environment—it reduces the consumption of the unemployed across the board, and only in the short term. Full employment of the unemployed workforce, all focused toward the goal of developing more environmentally efficient methods for production and consumption might provide a more significant and lasting cumulative environmental benefit and reduced resource consumption. If so the future economy and workforce would benefit from the resultant structural increases in the sustainable level of GDP growth.

Some critics of the "culture of work" such as anarchist Bob Black see employment as overemphasized culturally in modern countries. Such critics often propose quitting jobs when possible, working less, reassessing the cost of living to this end, creation of jobs which are "fun" as opposed to "work," and creating cultural norms where work is seen as unhealthy. These people advocate an "anti-work" ethic for life.

Controlling or reducing unemployment

Societies try a number of different measures to get as many people as possible into work, and various societies have experienced close to full employment for extended periods, particularly during the Post-World War II economic expansion. The United Kingdom in the 1950s and 60s averaged 1.6% unemployment, while in Australia the 1945 ''White Paper on Full Employment in Australia'' established a government policy of full employment, which policy lasted until the 1970s when the government ran out of money.

However, mainstream economic discussions of full employment since the 1970s suggest that attempts to reduce the level of unemployment below the natural rate of unemployment will fail, resulting only in less output and more inflation.

Demand side solutions

+ United States Families on Relief (in 1,000's)
!	! 1936	! 1937	! 1938	! 1939	! 1940	! 1941
Workers employed
! WPA	1,995	2,227	1,932	2,911	1,971	1,638
! CCC and NYA	712	801	643	793	877	919
! Other federal work projects	554	663	452	488	468	681
Cases on public assistance
! Social security programs	602	1,306	1,852	2,132	2,308	2,517
! General relief	2,946	1,484	1,611	1,647	1,570	1,206
Totals
! Total families helped	5,886	5,660	5,474	6,751	5,860	5,167
! Unemployed workers (BLS)	9,030	7,700	10,390	9,480	8,120	5,560
! Coverage (cases/unemployed)	65%	74%	53%	71%	72%	93%

Many countries aid the unemployed through social welfare programs. These unemployment benefits include unemployment insurance, unemployment compensation, welfare and subsidies to aid in retraining. The main goal of these programs is to alleviate short-term hardships and, more importantly, to allow workers more time to search for a job.

thumb|170px|left|Government unemployment office with job listings, Berlin, Germany.A direct demand-side solution to unemployment is government-funded employment of the able-bodied poor. This was notably implemented in Britain from the 17th century until 1948 in the institution of the workhouse, which provided jobs for the unemployed with harsh conditions and poor wages to dissuade their use. A modern alternative is a job guarantee, where the government guarantees work at a living wage. Temporary measures can include public works programs such as the Works Progress Administration. Government-funded employment is not widely advocated as a solution to unemployment, except in times of crisis; this is attributed to the public sector jobs' existence depending directly on the tax receipts from private sector employment.

In the U.S. the unemployment insurance allowance one receives is based solely on previous income (not time worked, family size, etc.) and usually compensates for one-third of one's previous income. To qualify, one must reside in their respective state for at least a year and, of course, work. The system was established by the Social Security Act of 1935. Although 90% of citizens are covered by unemployment insurance, less than 40% apply for and receive benefits. However, the number applying for and receiving benefits increases during recessions. In cases of highly seasonal industries the system provides income to workers during the off seasons, thus encouraging them to stay attached to the industry.

According to classical economic theory, markets reach equilibrium where supply equals demand; everyone who wants to sell at the market price can. Those who do not want to sell at this price do not; in the labour market this is classical unemployment. Increases in the demand for labour will move the economy along the demand curve, increasing wages and employment. The demand for labour in an economy is derived from the demand for goods and services. As such, if the demand for goods and services in the economy increases, the demand for labour will increase, increasing employment and wages. Monetary policy and fiscal policy can both be used to increase short-term growth in the economy, increasing the demand for labour and decreasing unemployment.

Supply-side solutions

However, the labour market is not 100% efficient: it does not clear, though it may be more efficient than bureaucracy. Some argue that minimum wages and union activity keep wages from falling, which means too many people want to sell their labour at the going price but cannot. This assumes perfect competition exists in the labour market, specifically that no single entity is large enough to affect wage levels. Advocates of supply-side policies believe those policies can solve this by making the labour market more flexible. These include removing the minimum wage and reducing the power of unions. Supply-siders argue the reforms increase long-term growth. This increased supply of goods and services requires more workers, increasing employment. It is argued that supply-side policies, which include cutting taxes on businesses and reducing regulation, create jobs and reduce unemployment. Other supply-side policies include education to make workers more attractive to employers.

However, recent meta-analyzes involving many studies refute that there is any statistically significant, negative impact of minimum wages on unemployment. Further, a number of scholars argue that the predicted negative impact is based on incoherent or simplistic logic that ignores mitigating environmental factors, such as non-minimum wage labour markets including farm, service and self employed workers. They argue that the benefits of minimum wage laws outweigh the supposed but unproven costs.

See also

Notes

References

*

External links

Economic Policy Institute

Historical data

* ''Looking for Work: A History of Unemployment'' - An hour-long history public radio program exploring U.S. unemployment over more than three centuries

* Thermal maps of the world's unemployment percentage rates - by country, 2007–2010

* Historical US Unemployment Rate Chart - interactive chart for U.S. unemployment rate data - 1948 to present including subcategories

* U.S. Unemployment Rate – unemployment rate in U.S., since 1976, annual data

* Historical US unemployment rate – since 1948 till June 2009, monthly data

* The United States Unemployment Rate – unemployment rate in U.S., since January 1948, monthly data

* Official Bureau of Labor Statistics table – unemployment rate and some other statistics for U.S., since 1940, annual data

Current data

* Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization (USA)

* Unemployment Benefits Comparison By State (USA)

* Current unemployment rates by country

* OECD Unemployment statistics

In Popular Culture

* The Adventures of Unemployed Man. A satirical graphic novel from Origen & Golan, New York Times bestselling authors of Goodnight Bush.

Category:Economic problems Category:Labor economics Category:Personal financial problems Category:Article Feedback Pilot

af:Werkloosheid ar:بطالة az:İşsizlik be-x-old:Беспрацоўе bs:Nezaposlenost bg:Безработица ca:Atur cs:Nezaměstnanost cy:Diweithdra da:Arbejdsløshed de:Arbeitslosigkeit et:Tööpuudus el:Ανεργία es:Desempleo eo:Senlaboreco eu:Langabezia fa:بی‌کاری fr:Chômage gl:Desemprego ko:실업 hi:बेकारी hr:Nezaposlenost io:Chomeso id:Pengangguran ia:Desempleato is:Atvinnuleysi it:Disoccupazione he:אבטלה kn:ನಿರುದ್ಯೋಗ kk:Жұмыссыздық la:Inopia operarum lv:Bezdarbs lt:Nedarbas hu:Munkanélküliség mk:Невработеност mr:बेरोजगारी ms:Pengangguran mn:Ажилгүйдэл nl:Werkloosheid ja:失業 no:Arbeidsledighet nn:Arbeidsløyse uz:Ishsizlik pl:Bezrobocie pt:Desemprego ro:Șomaj ru:Безработица sah:Үлэтэ суох буолуу sq:Papunësia scn:Disuccupazzioni simple:Unemployment sk:Nezamestnanosť sl:Brezposelnost sr:Незапосленост sh:Nezaposlenost fi:Työttömyys sv:Arbetslöshet ta:வேலைவாய்ப்பின்மை te:నిరుద్యోగం tr:İşsizlik uk:Безробіття vi:Thất nghiệp wa:Tchômaedje vls:Weirklôoseid yi:ארבעטסלאזיקײט zh:失業

David Lazarus is an American business and consumer columnist for the ''Los Angeles Times''. He joined the paper in August 2007.

Before joining the ''LA Times'' staff in 2007, Lazarus worked as a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and a nightly talk radio host for San Francisco's KGO Radio. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley.

He won first place in the 2005 National Headliner Awards contest for business reporting. And the Society of Professional Journalists in Northern California named him "Journalist of the Year" in 2001. A media watchdog site, Grade the News, described him this way: "Since coming to the ''Chronicle'' from ''Wired News'' in 1999, David Lazarus has been one of the most prolific, and influential, writers at the paper."

Lazarus is the author of two books on Japan, where he lived for several years, and has had articles published in many magazines. He had a small part in the 1976 film ''The Bad News Bears''.

David lives in Southern California with his wife and son.

References

Category:American columnists Category:American journalists Category:American talk radio hosts Category:Consumer rights activists Category:People from San Francisco, California Category:Radio personalities from San Francisco, California Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni Category:Writers from California Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:American skeptics

Coordinates	57°02′″N34°58′″N
Honorific-prefix	The Right Honourable
Name	Liam Byrne
Honorific-suffix	MP
Office	Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Leader	Ed Miliband
Term start	20 January 2011
Predecessor	Douglas Alexander
Office3	Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office
Leader3	Ed Miliband
Term start3	8 October 2010
Term end3	20 January 2011
Predecessor3	Tessa Jowell
Successor3	Tessa Jowell
Office4	Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Leader4	Harriet HarmanEd Miliband
Term start4	11 May 2010
Term end4	8 October 2010
Predecessor4	Philip Hammond
Successor4	Angela Eagle
Office5	Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Primeminister5	Gordon Brown
Term start5	5 June 2009
Term end5	11 May 2010
Predecessor5	Yvette Cooper
Successor5	David Laws
Office6	Minister for the Cabinet Office
Primeminister6	Gordon Brown
Term start6	3 October 2008
Term end6	5 June 2009
Predecessor6	Ed Miliband
Successor6	Tessa Jowell
Office7	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Primeminister7	Gordon Brown
Term start7	3 October 2008
Term end7	5 June 2009
Predecessor7	Ed Miliband
Successor7	The Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
Office8	Minister of State for Borders and Immigration
Primeminister8	Tony BlairGordon Brown
Term start8	22 May 2006
Term end8	3 October 2008
Predecessor8	Tony McNulty (Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality)
Successor8	Phil Woolas
Office9	Member of Parliament for Birmingham Hodge Hill
Term start9	15 July 2004
Predecessor9	Terry Davis
Majority9	10,302 (24.3%)
Party	Labour
Birth date
Birth place	Warrington, Cheshire, United Kingdom
Alma mater	University of ManchesterHarvard Business School
Spouse	Sarah Byrne
Website	LiamByrne.co.uk }}

Liam Dominic Byrne (born 2 October 1970) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Hodge Hill since 2004, and was the Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2009 to 2010 before being appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on 20 January 2011.

Early life

Born in Warrington, Byrne was educated at Burnt Mill School in Harlow and completed his A levels at The Hertfordshire and Essex High School in Bishop's Stortford. He went on to study at the University of Manchester, where he obtained a First class honours in Politics and Modern History and became the Communications Officer of the University of Manchester Students' Union. He also holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School where he was a Fulbright Scholar.

Before working in Parliament, he worked for the multi-national consulting firm, Accenture and merchant bankers, N M Rothschild & Sons, before co-founding a venture backed technology company, eGS Group, in 2000. Between 1996 and 1997 he advised the Labour Party on the re-organisation of Millbank, and helped lead Labour's business campaign under the 'New Labour' scheme.

Parliamentary career

He was selected to contest the Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election following the resignation of the veteran Labour MP Terry Davis to become the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. After a very close contest, on 15 July 2004, the same day as Labour lost Leicester South in another by-election, Byrne held on with a majority of just 460. He made his maiden speech on 22 July 2004

Following his re-election with an increased majority on 5 May 2005, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health, an unusually fast promotion to ministerial rank. He was re-elected at the May 2010 general election.

Home Office

Following the 2006 local elections, he was promoted to Minister of State for policing, security and community safety at the Home Office, replacing Hazel Blears, one of the highest-profile roles in the government outside the cabinet. However, just a fortnight later Home Secretary John Reid moved him to the immigration role, switching portfolios with Tony McNulty. McNulty had been connected with the foreign prisoners scandal that caused Tony Blair to sack Charles Clarke in May 2006. Byrne's move was seen as an attempt by Reid to establish an entirely new team to sort out the immigration system. During this period he was also Minister for the West Midlands. Gordon Brown named him Minister for the Cabinet Office in October 2008, replacing the promoted Ed Miliband, and was appointed to the Privy Council as a result.

Immigration/taxi driver controversy

In November 2006 Byrne was responsible for a change to Britain's immigration rules preventing migrants who had entered under Britain's Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) having their permission to remain in Britain extended unless they could show both that they had been earning at least £32,000 pa while in Britain and that they had a good knowledge of English. This change was controversial because it applies retrospectively to immigrants who had entered Britain under the old rules, meaning the British Government had "moved the goalposts" - a degree is effectively now an essential requirement, regardless of the skills or economic contribution that an individual can demonstrate. In their report into the changes, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights said that "The changes to the Rules are so clearly incompatible with Article 8, and so contrary to basic notions of fairness, that the case for immediately revisiting the changes to the Rules in Parliament is in our view overwhelming." Appeal cases have been won on appeal on the grounds that applicants had a legitimate expectation that the rules would not change to their detriment. A judicial review has been successfully brought against the government, with their actions when applying the new HSMP rules to those HSMP holders already in Britain as at 7 November 2006 being ruled as unlawful.

Byrne is in favour of legislation for a ''Migration Act'' similar to the 1958 immigration law in Australia which is administered by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).

In 2007, Byrne was criticised by London's cab drivers for his remarks that they were "low-skilled". This ignored the fact that the cabbies study the details of London's streets for an average of eighteen months before becoming licensed.

"British Day"

In June 2008, Byrne suggested the "August bank holiday" to be made a weekend of national celebration (the so-called "British Day") in a speech to a New Labour think tank. However, Scotland's August bank holiday is held on a different date from that in Wales and England. He later retracted this - after pressure from the Scottish National Party - saying he was merely trying to "get the debate started".

Cabinet Office

In a cabinet reshuffle on 3 October 2008 he was promoted, becoming Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Leaked staffing requirements memo

In November 2008 an 11-page memo written by Byrne entitled "Working With Liam Byrne" was leaked to the press. In the memo, Byrne listed his demands from his staff, memorably including his requirement for a cappuccino on his arrival in the office, an espresso at 3 pm, and soup between 12:30 pm and 1 pm. Byrne also instructed officials to tell him "not what you think I should know, but you expect I will get asked." He warns staff that they should "Never put anything to me unless you understand it and can explain it to me in 60 seconds... If I see things that are not of acceptable quality, I will blame you." Conservative MP Philip Davies commented that "This is not a briefing note for civil servants, it’s a briefing note for slaves." Although ''The Guardian'' described Liam Byrne as an "eager diva", a spokesman for Byrne commented that the memo had been written in 2006, and that "He is a highly efficient Minister but has become more flexible since then. Some days, he has his soup at 1:30 pm."

Departure from the Treasury

On leaving his position as Chief secretary to the Treasury following the change of British government in May 2010, Byrne left a note to his successor David Laws saying "Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid to tell you there's no money left."

Road safety

Byrne has been a vocal campaigner for road safety and handed in a petition in to Parliament in 2005 demanding tougher punishments for dangerous drivers. He sat on the parliamentary committee that shaped the 2006 Road Safety Act, which increased fixed penalty fines for driving while using a mobile. On 2 November 2007 he was fined £100 and received three points on his driving licence for using his mobile telephone while driving.

References

External links

Liam Byrne official site

EGS

;News articles

Profile: Liam Byrne ''BBC News'', 2 November 2007

The seat of power?, Nick Watson, ''The Politics Show'', 5 July 2007

|- |- |- |-

Category:1970 births Category:Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester Category:British businesspeople Category:British people of Irish descent Category:Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster Category:Harvard Business School alumni Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs Category:Living people Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Category:Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies Category:People from Birmingham, West Midlands Category:People from Hertfordshire Category:People from Warrington Category:UK MPs 2001–2005 Category:UK MPs 2005–2010 Category:UK MPs 2010–

pl:Liam Byrne

Coordinates	57°02′″N34°58′″N
name	Beastie Boys
landscape	yes
background	group_or_band
origin	New York City, United States
genre	Hip hop, rap rock, hardcore punk
occupation	Rappers
years active	1979–present
label	Rat CageDef JamCapitolGrand Royal
associated acts	Run DMCBiz MarkieB.G.
website	beastieboys.com
current members	Mike DMCAAd-Rock
past members	Kate SchellenbachJohn BerryDJ Double RDoctor DréDJ Hurricane }}

Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D (Michael Diamond) who plays the drums, MCA (Adam Yauch) who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) who plays the guitar.

The Beastie Boys began as hardcore punk band in 1979, first appearing on the compilation cassette ''New York Thrash'' before releasing their first EP, ''Polly Wog Stew'', in 1982. After achieving moderate local success with the 1983 release of their experimental hip hop 12" ''Cooky Puss'', they made the transition to hip hop in 1984 and a string of successful 12" singles followed by their debut album ''Licensed to Ill'' in 1986 which received international critical acclaim and commercial success. As of 2010, they have sold 22 million albums in the United States and 40 million albums worldwide.

They are one of the longest lived hip hop acts worldwide and continue to enjoy commercial and critical success in 2011, nearly 25 years after the release of their debut album. On September 27, 2007, they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2009, the group released digitally remastered deluxe editions of their albums ''Paul's Boutique'', ''Check Your Head'', ''Ill Communication'' and ''Hello Nasty''. Their eighth studio album, ''Hot Sauce Committee Part Two'', was released on May 3, 2011, and received positive reviews.

History

''Early years'' (1979–1983)

The Beastie Boys came together in 1979 as a hardcore punk band. A teenaged Adam Yauch had the idea to start an NY-Hard Core band after seeing Black Flag play their first NY show at Peppermint Lounge on March 14, 1981, and approached friends John Berry, Kate Schellenbach, and Michael Diamond (who were all in another band called The Young Aborigines), asking them to join him. The name "Beastie Boys" was suggested by original guitarist John Berry. The letters B.E.A.S.T.I.E. stand for "Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Internal Excellence", but this was a backronym, as it was decided what the letters stood for after the band's name had been chosen. The band's original line-up consisted of Adam Yauch on bass, Kate Schellenbach on drums, John Berry on guitar, and Michael Diamond on vocals. Their first gig was at Berry's loft at 100th Street and Broadway on Yauch's 17th birthday, August 5, 1981.

The band quickly earned support slots for Bad Brains, the Dead Kennedys, the Misfits and Reagan Youth at venues such as CBGB, A7, Trudy Hellers Place and Max's Kansas City, playing at the latter venue on its closing night. In November of that same year, the Beastie Boys recorded the 7" EP ''Polly Wog Stew'' at 171A studios, an early recorded example of New York hardcore.

On Friday, November 13, 1982, the Beastie Boys, consisting of band members John Berry, Michael Diamond (Mike D), Adam Yauch (MCA) (a.k.a. Nathanial Hörnblowér), and Kate Schellenbach (later of Luscious Jackson), played Philip Pucci's birthday for the purposes of his short concert film of the Beastie Boys, Philip Pucci's "Beastie". Pucci held the concert in Bard College's Preston Drama Dance Department Theatre. This performance marked the Beastie Boys’ first on screen appearance in a published motion picture. Pucci's concept for “Beastie” was to distribute a mixture of both a half dozen 16mm Bell and Howell Filmo cameras, and 16mm Bolex cameras to audience members and ask that they capture the Beastie Boys performance from the audience’s own point of view while a master sync sound camera filmed from the balcony of the abandoned theater where the performance was held. The opening band for that performance was “The Young and the Useless”, which featured Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock) as their lead singer. A one minute clip of "Beastie" was subsequently excerpted and licensed by the Beastie Boys for use in the "Egg Raid on Mojo" segment of the "Skills to Pay the Bills" long form home video released by Capitol Records. “Skills to Pay the Bills” later went on to earn the Recording Industry Association of America’s (R.I.A.A.) gold sales award for selling more than 500,000 copies.

John Berry left the group in 1983 (later forming Thwig, Big Fat Love, and Bourbon Deluxe) and was replaced by Adam Horovitz guitarist of The Young and the Useless (who had become close friends with the Beastie Boys at this point). The band also recorded and then performed its first hip hop track, "Cooky Puss", based on a prank call by the group to Carvel Ice Cream in 1983. It became a hit in New York underground dance clubs and night clubs upon its release.

''Licensed to Ill'' (1984–1987)

With the success of "Cooky Puss" they began to incorporate rap into their set. They decided to hire a DJ for their live shows, and ended up getting an NYU student named Rick Rubin. Soon thereafter, Rubin began producing records, formed Def Jam Recordings and approached the band about producing them for his new label. Around the same time, the band made a more complete switch over from a punk rock outfit to a three-man rap trio, each adopting their own hip hop monikers in the vein of Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel and Fab Five Freddy (Mike D, MCA and Adrock). They released the 12" EP, ''Rock Hard'', in 1985; this would be the second record released by Def Jam crediting Rubin as producer. Kate Schellenbach developed creative differences with the band soon after Rubin's arrival; friction with Rubin was a contributing factor. It is believed that Rubin objected to Schellenbach's place in the band – she did not fit the hip hop image that Rick envisioned. Schellenbach went on to join Luscious Jackson in 1991.

In 1985, the band opened for John Lydon's post-Sex Pistols band Public Image Ltd., as well as supporting Madonna on her North American The Virgin Tour. Later in the year, the group was on the ''Raising Hell'' tour with Run DMC, Whodini, LL Cool J, and the Timex Social Club. With their exposure on this tour, the track "Hold It Now, Hit It" made ''Billboard'''s national R&B; and Dance charts. The track "She's on It" from the ''Krush Groove'' soundtrack continued in a rap/metal vein while a double A-side 12", "Paul Revere/The New Style", was released at the end of the year.

The band recorded ''Licensed to Ill'' in 1986 and released the album at the end of the year. The album was well-received, and was favorably reviewed by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine with the now-famous headline, "Three Idiots Create a Masterpiece." ''Licensed to Ill'' became the best selling rap album of the 1980s and the first rap album to go No.1 on the ''Billboard'' album chart, where it stayed for five weeks. It also reached No.2 on the Urban album charts. It was Def Jam's fastest selling debut record to date and sold over five million copies. The first single from the album, "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)", () reached No.7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and the video (directed by Ric Menello) became an MTV staple. Another chart hit from the album was No Sleep till Brooklyn, released in 1987.

The band took the ''Licensed to Ill'' tour around the world the following year. It was a tour clouded in controversy featuring female members of the crowd dancing in cages and a giant motorized inflatable penis similar to one used by The Rolling Stones in the 1970s. The tour was troubled by lawsuits and arrests, with the band accused of provoking the crowd. This culminated in their notorious gig at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, England on May 30, 1987 that erupted into a riot approximately 10 minutes after the Beasties hit the stage and the arrest of Adam Horovitz by Merseyside Police on assault charges.

After the success of ''Licensed to Ill'', the Beasties parted ways with Def Jam and ended their relationship with Rick Rubin to sign with Capitol Records. ''Tougher Than Leather'', the movie made by Rick Rubin as a star vehicle for Run-D.M.C. and Def Jam Recordings with appearances by the Beastie Boys when they were still with the label, was subsequently released in 1988. In 1998, a bootleg album entitled ''Original Ill'' was released, featuring original [[Demo (music)| demos]] of all the tracks from the final version of ''Licensed to Ill'', plus deleted tracks "I'm Down" (a Beatles cover) and "The Scenario" (an early example of gangsta rap which was memorably featured in the 1990 Christian Slater film ''Pump Up the Volume'').

''Paul's Boutique'' and ''Check Your Head'' (1988–1992)

The group re-entered the studio in 1988, emerging with a more artistically mature second album, ''Paul's Boutique''. Produced by the Dust Brothers and Matt Dike, this extremely sample-heavy opus is still considered one of the strongest works by the Beastie Boys, and ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it No.156 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It is also considered a landmark in hip hop recordings due to its large array of samples and intricate use of multi-layering. The album was released in 1989 by Capitol Records, after the falling out between the group and Def Jam. It failed to match the sales of ''Licensed to Ill,'' reaching No.14 on the Billboard 200 and No.10 on the Billboard R&B; charts. The lead single, "Hey Ladies", reached No.36 on the Billboard 100 and No.10 on the R&B; charts. ''Rolling Stone'' would describe the album as "the ''Pet Sounds''/''The Dark Side of the Moon'' of hip hop." ''Paul's Boutique'' would eventually sell a million copies, despite the initially weak commercial reception. The band digitally remastered and released the album through their own website.

The follow-up album, ''Check Your Head'', was recorded in the band's own "G-Son" studio in Atwater Village, California and released on its Grand Royal record label. The band was influenced to play instruments on this album by Dutch group Urban Dance Squad; with Mike D on drums, Yauch on bass, Horovitz on guitar and Mark Ramos Nishita ("Keyboard Money Mark") on keyboards. Mario Caldato, Jr., who had helped in the production of ''Paul's Boutique'', engineered the record and became a longtime collaborator. ''Check Your Head'' was released in 1992 and went double platinum in the U.S., reaching a peak of No.10 on the Billboard 200. The single "So What'cha Want" reached No.93 on the Billboard 100 and made both the urban and modern rock charts while the album's first single "Pass the Mic" became a hit in dance clubs. The album also introduced a more experimental direction, with funk and jazz inspired songs including "Lighten Up" and "Something's Got to Give". The band returned to their hardcore punk roots for the song "Time for Livin'", a Sly & the Family Stone cover.

Beastie Boys signed an eclectic roster of artists to their Grand Royal label, including Luscious Jackson, Sean Lennon and promising Australian artist Ben Lee. The group owned Grand Royal Records until 2001 when it was then sold for financial reasons. Grand Royal's first independent release was Luscious Jackson's album ''In Search of Manny'' in 1993. Also, in 1993, the band contributed the track "It's The New Style" (with DJ Hurricane) to the AIDS-Benefit Album No Alternative produced by the Red Hot Organization.

The Beastie Boys also published ''Grand Royal Magazine'', with the first edition in 1993 featuring a cover story on Bruce Lee, artwork by George Clinton, and interviews with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and A Tribe Called Quest MC Q-Tip. The 1995 issue of the magazine contained a memorable piece on the mullet. The Oxford English Dictionary cites this as the first published use of the term, along with the lyrics from the Beasties' 1994 song "Mullet Head". That is why one never heard the term in the 1980s, even though that decade has retroactively been hailed as the mullet's peak in popularity. The OED says that the term was "apparently coined, and certainly popularized, by U.S. hip-hop group the Beastie Boys." ''Grand Royal Magazine'' is also responsible for giving British band Sneaker Pimps their name.

''Ill Communication'' (1993–1996)

''Ill Communication'', released in 1994, saw the Beastie Boys' return to the top of the charts when the album debuted at No.1 on the Billboard Top 200 & peaked at No.2 on the R&B;/hip hop album chart. The single "Sabotage" () became a hit on the modern rock charts and the music video, directed by Spike Jonze, received extensive play on MTV. "Get It Together" reached Top 10 of the Billboard dance charts and also became an urban hit while "Sure Shot" was a dance hit. ''Some Old Bullshit'', featuring the band's early independent material, made No.50 on the Billboard independent charts.

Beastie Boys headlined at Lollapalooza—an American travelling music festival—in 1994, together with The Smashing Pumpkins. In addition, the band performed three concerts (in Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington D.C.) to raise money for the Milarepa Fund and dedicated the royalties from "Shambala" and "Bodhisattva Vow" from the ''Ill Communication'' album to the cause. The Milarepa Fund aims to raise awareness of Tibetan human rights issues and the exile of the Dalai Lama. In 1996, Yauch organized the Tibetan Freedom Concert, a two-day festival at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco that attracted 100,000 people.

In 1995, the popularity of Beastie Boys was underlined when tickets for an arena tour went on sale in the U.S. and sold out within a few minutes. One dollar from each ticket sold went to local charities. The Beastie Boys toured South America and Southeast Asia for the first time. The band also released ''Aglio e Olio'', a collection of eight songs lasting just 11 minutes harking back to their punk roots, in 1995. ''The In Sound From Way Out!'', a collection of previously released jazz/funk instrumentals, was released on Grand Royal in 1996 with the title and artwork a homage to an album by electronic pop music pioneers Perrey and Kingsley.

''Hello Nasty'' (1997–2001)

Beastie Boys returned to New York City in 1997 to produce and record the album ''Hello Nasty''. The album displayed a substantial shift in musical feel, with the addition of Mix Master Mike, who added to the Beasties' sound with his kinetic DJ style. Released July 14, 1998, ''Hello Nasty'' earned first week sales of 698,527 in the U.S. and went straight to No.1 in the U.S., the UK, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden. The album achieved No.2 rank in the charts in Canada and Japan, and reached Top Ten chart positions in Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Belgium, Finland, France and Israel.

Beastie Boys won two Grammy Awards in 1999, receiving the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album for ''Hello Nasty'' as well as the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Intergalactic". This was the first and, as of 2008, only time that a band had won awards in both rap and alternative categories.

Also at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards they won the highly coveted Video Vanguard Award for their contribution to music videos. The following year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards they also won the award for Best Hip Hop Video for their hit song "Intergalactic". Beastie Boys used both appearances at the Video Music Awards to make politically-charged speeches of considerable length to the sizable MTV audiences. At the 1998 ceremony, Yauch addressed the issue of Muslim people being stereotyped as terrorists and that most people of the Muslim faith are not terrorists. These comments were made in the wake of the U.S. Embassy bombings that had occurred in both Kenya and Tanzania only a month earlier. At the 1999 ceremony in the wake of the horror stories that were coming out of Woodstock 99, Adam Horovitz addressed the fact that there had been so many cases of sexual assaults and rapes at the festival and the need for bands and festivals to pay much more attention to the security details at their concerts.

Beastie Boys started an arena tour in 1998. Through Ian C. Rogers, the band made live downloads of their performances available for their fans, but were temporarily thwarted when Capitol Records removed them from its website. The Beastie Boys was one of the first bands who made mp3 downloads available on their website; they got a high level of response and public awareness as a result including a published article in ''The Wall Street Journal'' on the band's efforts.

The 1999 Tibetan Freedom Concerts featured shows in East Troy, Wisconsin, Sydney, Tokyo, and Amsterdam. On September 28, 1999, Beastie Boys joined Elvis Costello to play "Radio Radio" on the 25th anniversary season of ''Saturday Night Live''.

Beastie Boys released ''The Sounds of Science'', a two-CD anthology of their works in 1999. This album reached No.19 on the Billboard 200, No.18 in Canada, No.6 on the Internet sales charts, and No.14 on the R&B;/Hip Hop charts. The one new song, the single "Alive", reached No.11 on the Billboard's Modern Rock chart.

In the years following the release of ''Hello Nasty'' the group launched their official website which underwent several transformations eventually culminating in one of the most popular recording artist related websites on the internet.

In 2000, Beastie Boys had planned to co-headline the "Rhyme and Reason Tour" with Rage Against the Machine and Busta Rhymes, but the tour was canceled when drummer Mike D suffered a serious injury due to a bicycle accident. The official diagnosis was fifth-degree acromioclavicular joint dislocation; he needed surgery and extensive rehabilitation. By the time he recovered, Rage Against the Machine had disbanded, although they would reunite seven years later.

Under the name "Country Mike", Mike D recorded an album, ''Country Mike's Greatest Hits'', and gave it to friends and family for Christmas in 2000. Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz's side project BS 2000 released ''Simply Mortified'' in 2001.

''Hello Nasty'' was reissued on September 22, 2009.

''To the 5 Boroughs'' (2002–2006)

The band increased its level of political activism after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, organizing and headlining the New Yorkers Against Violence Concert in October 2001. Funds from the concert went towards the New York Women's Foundation Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Association for New Americans (NYANA).

In 2002, Adam Yauch started building a new studio facility, ''Oscilloscope Laboratories'', in downtown Manhattan, New York and the band started work on a new album there. The band released a protest song, "In A World Gone Mad", against the 2003 Iraq war as a free download on several websites, including the Milarepa website, the MTV website, MoveOn.org, and Win Without War. It became the most downloaded track during April 2003. The 19th and 20th Tibetan Freedom Concerts were held in Tokyo and Taipei, Beastie Boys' first Taiwan appearance. Beastie Boys also headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Their single, "Ch-Check It Out", debuted on ''The O.C.'' in "The Vegas" episode from Season 1 which aired April 28, 2004.

''To the 5 Boroughs'' was released worldwide on June 15, 2004. It was the first album the Beastie Boys produced themselves and reached No.1 on the Billboard album charts, No.2 in the UK and Australia, and No.3 in Germany. The first single from the album, "Ch-Check It Out", reached No.1 in Canada and the US Modern Rock Tracks, No.2 on the world internet download charts, and No.3 on a composite world modern rock chart.

The album was the cause of some controversy with allegations that it installed spyware when inserted into the CD drive of a computer. The band has denied this allegation, defending that there is no copy protection software on the albums sold in the U.S. and UK. While there is Macrovision CDS-200 copy protection software installed on European copies of the album, this is standard practice for all European releases on EMI/Capitol Records released in Europe, and it does not install spyware or any form of permanent software.

The band stated in mid-2006 that they were writing material for their next album and would be producing it themselves.

''The Mix-Up'' (2007–2008)

Speaking to British music weekly ''NME'' (April 26, 2007), Diamond revealed that a new album was to be called ''The Mix-Up''. Despite initial confusion regarding whether the album would have lyrics as opposed to being purely instrumental, the Mic-To-Mic blog reported that Capitol Records had confirmed it would be strictly instrumental and erroneously reported a release date scheduled for July 10, 2007. (The album was eventually released June 26, as originally reported.) On May 1, 2007, this was further cemented by an e-mail sent to those on the Beastie Boys' mailing list — explicitly stating that the album would be all instrumental:

The band subsequently confirmed this in public, playing several tracks from the album at the 2007 Virgin Festival at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.

To support the release, a string of live dates was announced that focused on festivals as opposed to a traditional tour, including the likes of Sónar (Spain), Roskilde (Denmark), Hurricane/Southside (Germany), Bestival (Isle Of Wight), Electric Picnic (Ireland) and Open'er Festival (Poland). Beastie Boys performed at the UK leg of Live Earth July 7, 2007 at Wembley Stadium, London with "Sabotage", "So What'cha Want", "Intergalactic", and "Sure Shot".

They worked with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization, on their 2007 summer tour.

Beastie Boys were featured on the cover of Beyond Race magazine for the publication's summer 2007 issue.

They won a Grammy for ''The Mix-Up'' in the "Best Pop Instrumental Album" category at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008.

''Hot Sauce Committee'' (2009–present)

In February 2009, Yauch revealed their forthcoming new album has taken the band's sound in a "bizarre" new direction, saying "It's a combination of playing and sampling stuff as we're playing, and also sampling pretty obscure records." The tentative title for the record was ''Tadlock's Glasses'', of which Yauch explained the inspiration behind the title:

"We had a bus driver years ago who used to drive Elvis' back up singers. His name was Tadlock and Elvis gave him a pair of glasses which he was very proud of. So for some reason that title – ''Tadlock's Glasses'' – has just been bouncing around."

In June 2009 The Beastie Boys appeared at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and performed the new single from the album titled "Too Many Rappers" alongside rapper Nas who appears on the track. The group would have toured the UK later in the year in support of the new record.

On May 25, it was announced during an interview on ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' that the name of their new album would be ''Hot Sauce Committee'' and was set for release on September 15 (with the tracklisting of the album announced through their mailing list on June 23).

Speaking to Drowned in Sound the Beastie Boys revealed that Part 2 is done. Mike D also hinted it may be released via unusual means:

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On July 20, Yauch announced on the Beastie Boys' official YouTube channel and through the fan mailing list the cancellation of several tour dates and the postponement of the new album due to the discovery of a cancerous tumor in his parotid gland and a lymph node. The group also had to cancel their co-headlining gig at the Osheaga Festival in Montreal as well as a headlining spot at 2009's Lollapalooza.

In late October 2010, the Beastie Boys sent out two emails regarding the status of Hot Sauce Committee Pts. 1 and 2 to their online mailing list. An email dated October 18 read: "Although we regret to inform you that Hot Sauce Committee Part 1 will continue to be delayed indefinitely, Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 will be released on time as originally planned in spring of 2011." One week later, a second email was sent out, reading as follows:

The official release dates were April 27, 2011 for Japan; April 29 in the UK and Europe, and May 3, 2011 in the US. The third single for the album is "Make Some Noise" was made available for download on April 11, 2011 as well as a limited edition 7" vinyl single for Record Store Day five days later with a Passion Pit remix of the track as a b-side. The track was leaked online on April 6 and subsequently made available via their blog.

On April 22, the Beastie Boys emailed out the cryptic message ''"This Sat, 10:35 am EST – Just listen, listen, listen to the beat box"''. A day later, they live streamed their album online via beatbox inside Madison Square Garden.

Influences and legacy

Beastie Boys have had four albums reach the top of the ''Billboard'' album charts (''Licensed to Ill'', ''Ill Communication'', ''Hello Nasty'' and ''To The 5 Boroughs'') since 1986. In the November 2004 issue, ''Rolling Stone'' named "Sabotage" the 475th song on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. In their April 2005 issue, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked them No.77 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. VH1 ranked them No.89 on their list of their 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. On September 27, 2007, it was announced that Beastie Boys were one of the nine nominees for the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductions. A controversial concert in Columbus, Georgia in 1987 led to the passage of a lewdness ordinance in that city. Sal Governale, a comedian on the staff of ''The Howard Stern Show'', indicated on air on July 25, 2007, that he was the president of the Beastie Boys fan club in the 1980s on the Prodigy computer network.

The Beastie Boys were highly influenced by the incendiary blend of the politics, art, and rock n roll of the extremely influential punk rock band The Clash. Further influences include early rock bands Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, and Acid Rock legend Jimi Hendrix. Canadian rock band The Barenaked Ladies have also cited the Beastie Boys as a huge inspiration for their work.

Sampling lawsuit

In 2003, Beastie Boys were involved in the landmark sampling decision, ''Newton v. Diamond''. In that case, a federal judge ruled that the band was not liable for sampling James Newton's "Choir" in their track, "Pass the Mic". The sample used is the six-second flute stab. In short, the Beasties cleared the sample but obtained only the rights to use the sound recording and not the composition rights to the song "Choir". In the decision, the judge found that "when viewed in relation to Newton's composition as a whole, the portion is neither quantitatively nor qualitatively significant... Because Beastie Boys' use of the sound recording was authorized, the sole basis of Newton's infringement action is his remaining copyright interest in the 'Choir' composition. We hold today that Beastie Boys' use of a brief segment of that composition, consisting of three notes separated by a half-step over a background C note, is not sufficient to sustain a claim for copyright infringement."

Band members

Beastie Boys

Mike D (Michael Diamond) – vocals, drums (1979–present)

MCA (Adam Yauch) – vocals, bass (1979–present)

Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) – vocals, guitars (1982–present)

Former members

Kate Schellenbach – drums, percussion (1979–1983)

John Berry – guitars (1979–1981)

DJ Double R (Rick Rubin) – disc jockey (1984–1985)

Doctor Dré (André Brown) – disc jockey (1986)

DJ Hurricane (Wendell Fite) – disc jockey (1986–1997)

Other contributing members

Rick Rubin – producer (1985–1986)

The Dust Brothers – producer (1988)

Mario Caldato, Jr. – producer, engineer (1988–1998)

Money Mark (Mark Ramos-Nishita) – keyboards, vocals (1992–present)

Eric Bobo – percussion (1992–1998)

AWOL (Amery Smith) – drums (1994–1995)

Mix Master Mike (Michael Schwartz) – disc jockey, turntables (1998–present)

Discography

Studio albums

''Licensed to Ill'' (1986)

''Paul's Boutique'' (1989)

''Check Your Head'' (1992)

''Ill Communication'' (1994)

''Hello Nasty'' (1998)

''To the 5 Boroughs'' (2004)

''The Mix-Up'' (2007)

''Hot Sauce Committee Part Two'' (2011)

Awards and Nominations

Grammy Awards

!Year	!Nominated work	!Award	!Result
align=center	''Check Your Head''	Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
align=center	"Sabotage"	Best Hard Rock Performance
align=center	"Intergalactic"	Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
align=center	''Hello Nasty''	Best Alternative Performance
align=center	"Alive"	Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
align=center	"Ch-Check It Out"	Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
align=center	''To The 5 Boroughs''	Best Rap Album
align=center	"Off the Grid"	Best Pop Instrumental Performance
align=center	''The Mix-Up''	Best Pop Instrumental Album
align=center	"Too Many Rappers" (featuring Nas)	Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group

Filmography

''Krush Groove'' (1985)

''Tougher Than Leather'' (1988)

''Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!'' (2006)

''Fight For Your Right Revisited'' (2011)

References

Beastie (1982)

External links

Official website

Beastie Museum

Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Def Jam Recordings artists Category:East Coast hip hop groups Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Jewish hip hop groups Category:Musical groups established in 1979 Category:Hardcore punk groups from New York Category:Rapcore groups Category:Reachout International Records recording artists Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists

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