Purpose – This study empirically analyses the changes in unemployment rates to understand push factors of generating wage pressure and how it affects the aggregate demand in Korea and the United States. We use a structural macroeconomic model which is centered on the labor market and simultaneously explains the natural rate of unemployment and deviations. Research design, data and methodology – We attempt to empirically analyse the unemployment rates through two countries to analyse the economic effects of real wages and aggregate demand between 2000 and 2016. We introduce having estimated the whole model that the growth of unemployment into the part caused by each of these factors. Results – The results of this study show that in the long run, there is not only a natural level of employment but also a natural level of real demand are positively related. in the short run, demand can vary from bring about changes in employment by means of price or wage surprises. Conclusions – The pressure of demand in the labor market shows up strongly in both countries. The estimated labor-demand equation are consistent with this framework and generally have well defined real wage and demand effects.