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Economic models you can actually see move. Every curve is computed and every shift is verified. Built for students who want intuition, not just diagrams.

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Educational purposes only, not financial advice. Graphl teaches which economic framework applies and how its mechanism works; it does not solve assessment problems for you.

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  3. Bathtub Model of Unemployment
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  5. Scenario

Labor Economics · intro

Hiring freezes in a recession

What moves on the Bathtub Model of Unemployment diagram

  • Outflow f·ushifts down (small)

A lower job-finding rate flattens the outflow line; the natural ratenatural rateThe unemployment level set by structural forces (matching, turnover, institutions) rather than the business cycle. u* = s/(s+f) rises as the drain narrows.

Watch it animateQuiz yourself on Bathtub Model of Unemployment

Step by step

  1. 1

    Unemployment is a bathtub: layoffs pour in, hiring drains out.

  2. 2

    Recessions barely change layoffs, they FREEZE hiring. The drain narrows.

  3. 3

    The water level rises to a new, higher steady statesteady stateThe resting point of a growth model, where capital per worker stops changing because investment exactly covers depreciation and dilution.. Unemployment climbs mostly because exit slows, not because entry surges.

Where this shows up

Examiners ask this as: hiring freeze finding rate, recession unemployment flows.

Other scenarios on Bathtub Model of Unemployment

A layoff wave hits →