Unemployment increases economic growth---it increases labor availability.
White '22 – (Martha C.; reporter @ CNN Business; 9/2/22; "Yes, the unemployment rate rose. Here's why that's good news;" https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/02/economy/higher-unemployment-rate-good-news/index.html) NT-ML
Increasing the supply of available workers is positive for the economy, even if it does increase the official jobless rate, US Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said in an interview with CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Friday. It’s a sign that a lot more people are looking for work, which is a plus, given the extraordinary lengths to which employers are going to recruit and retain workers in a labor market with 11.2 million job openings.
“If the unemployment rate goes up a little bit because of that, that’s okay. Because there are still many job openings in United States of America and we need to get more people back into work,” Walsh said, adding that he was “very encouraged” by the growth in labor force participation.
Gary Burtless, labor economist at the Brookings Institution, echoed that sentiment. “That is something we’ve been worried about in this recovery — that too few people are looking for work and that’s causing a lot of labor market tightness,” he said.