The article shows that most of the ups and downs in unemployment rates are due to changes in the economy, like how much money is being spent and policies made by the government. These are called cyclical factors. The rest of the reasons for unemployment are because of things like how well different industries are doing, which are called structural factors. During the Great Recession, about 75% of the changes in unemployment were because of the economy, while the other 25% were because of industry differences. For long-term unemployment in the U.S., it's more like a 60-40 split between the economy and industry differences.