What type of unemployment occurred when the government closed military bases in the 1990s?

The situation described, where government closure of military bases in the 1990s led to unemployment, is classified as structural unemployment. This type of unemployment occurs when there is a fundamental change in an economy that reduces the demand for certain skills or job categories.

In this case, the closure of military bases resulted in a significant loss of jobs in that specific sector, meaning that those workers found themselves without employment as their skills were closely tied to military operations, which were no longer viable due to the base closures. Structural unemployment often requires retraining or relocation for workers to find new employment, as the jobs they held no longer exist in the same capacity, or the industries may have shifted elsewhere, leading to a mismatch between the skills of unemployed individuals and the available job opportunities in the market.

This distinguishes structural unemployment from cyclical unemployment, which is tied to the overall economic cycles (like recessions), frictional unemployment, which involves short-term transitions between jobs, and seasonal unemployment, which is related to seasonal work demands.