ing little patience for baseball players who tested
positive for drug use, he suspended and fined sev-
eral players, continuing this zero tolerance policy
over the next few years. In one of his last major ac-
tions as commissioner, in February, 1989, Ueberroth
met with incoming baseball commissioner Bart
Giamatti to discuss alleged gambling in baseball.
Ueberroth left his commissionership prior to the
start of the 1989 baseball season and returned to the
private sector to work as a corporate turnaround
specialist.
Impact Through his actions, Ueberroth set a new
standard for the Olympic Games. His take-charge
leadership style and his no-nonsense policies lifted
Major League Baseball from a dark period and
brought a new appreciation for the country’s na-
tional pastime.
Further Reading
Ajemian, Robert. “Peter Ueberroth, Man of the Year.”
Time125, no. 1 (January 7, 1985).
Ueberroth, Peter, with Richard Levin and Amy
Quinn.Made in America: His Own Stor y.New York:
William Morrow, 1985.
Joseph C. Santora
See also Baseball; Business and the economy in
the United States; Olympic boycotts; Olympic Games
of 1984; Rose, Pete; Sports; Statue of Liberty restora-
tion and centennial.
Unemployment in Canada
Definition The proportion of the Canadian labor
force that is without work and seeking work
The rate of unemployment in the United States and Can-
ada was virtually the same from 1948 to 1980. Beginning
in 1981, however, the Canadian unemployment rate aver-
aged more than two percentage points higher, and it rose
throughout the decade.
The year 1981 marked the beginning of a deep re-
cession in Canada caused by inflationary pressures
from the energy crisis of the 1970’s. Although in-
creased capital investment created more jobs, with
employment growing by an annual rate of 2.5 per-
cent, consumer spending reflected economic inse-
curity. Interest rates rose significantly in the 1980’s,
and the monetary policy pursued by the Bank of
Canada widened the gap between Canadian and
U.S. interest rates.
The first Canadian industries to reflect the reces-
sion were those most responsive to interest rates:
home construction, durable consumer goods, and
export goods. Regional differences in unemploy-
ment increased substantially, with British Columbia,
the Atlantic provinces, and Quebec suffering most.
Unemployment was also unevenly distributed
among segments of the population. Although older
workers (those aged fifty-five to sixty-four) had al-
ways had higher-than-average unemployment rates
compared to other workers, the 1980’s saw a two-
percentage-point rise in unemployment for that seg-
ment of the population. Female unemployment was
always higher than the male rate, but the actual
spread between the rates did not change. The most
considerable rise in unemployment occurred among
the low-skilled or undereducated segment (those
with eight or fewer years of schooling). This group’s
unemployment rate rose to more than 11 percent,
an increase of 2.5 percentage points from 1981 to- Finally, the percentage of long-term unem-
ployment (defined as twelve months or more) rose
from 3.6 percent to a peak of 9.5 percent in 1984-
1987, then fell to 6.9 percent by the end of the de-
cade. Older workers were especially likely to suffer
longer periods of joblessness.
Impact Because the economic performance of the
United States and Canada was similar during the
1980’s, the difference in the countries’ unemploy-
ment rates requires explanation. Some researchers
believe that the disparity between U.S. and Cana-
dian unemployment rates is partly accounted for by
statistical issues; for example, “passive” job search-
ers, whose only effort to find employment involves
searching want ads, were classified as unemployed
by Canada, but not by the United States. A case can
also be made that the more generous coverage of un-
employment insurance in Canada raised labor force
participation and made longer-term unemployment
more bearable than in the United States.
Further Reading
Card, David, and W. Craig Ridell. “Unemployment
in Canada and the United States: A Further Anal-
ysis.” InTrade, Technology, and Economics: Essays in
Honour of Richard G. Lipsey, edited by B. Curtis
Eaton and Richard G. Harris. Cheltenham, En-
gland: Edward Elgar Press, 1997.
998 Unemployment in Canada The Eighties in America