Definition
- Unemployed
- An unemployed person is someone without a job who has actively looked for work in the previous four weeks and is available to start work within two weeks.
- Not to be confused with: Economically inactive
- An economically inactive person is out of paid work and either has not looked for a job in the past four weeks or cannot start within two weeks.
Example
Can you think of an example of unemployed?
A town has 100,000 adults. 57,000 have jobs, 3,000 have no job and are looking for one, and 40,000 are retired, studying, caring or not looking. The labour force is 60,000, so the unemployment rate is 3,000 ÷ 60,000 × 100 = 5 per cent, not the 3 per cent you get by dividing by every adult.
Test yourself
What is the difference between unemployed and economically inactive?
Both are out of work; the unemployed are looking and ready to start, the inactive are not.