When Resources Get Stuck
Sometimes factors of production (labour, land, and capital) can't easily move to where they're needed most - this is called factor immobility. It's like having the right puzzle pieces but in the wrong places.
Labour immobility creates different types of unemployment. Structural unemployment happens when entire industries decline (think coal mining). Geographical unemployment occurs when jobs exist but workers can't relocate. Frictional unemployment is temporary - people between jobs. Occupational unemployment stems from lacking the right skills.
Capital immobility becomes a problem when technology changes rapidly, making expensive machinery obsolete. That specialist coal mining equipment mentioned earlier? It's pretty useless for anything else now.
Land immobility is perhaps the trickiest - you can't exactly move a field from Scotland to Cornwall. Climate conditions limit what can be grown where, and government subsidies sometimes keep farmers producing things that aren't economically sensible.
Real Impact: When factors can't move freely, markets struggle to balance supply and demand, creating distortions that take ages to sort out.