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Unemployment

Unemployment 

Unemployed - when someone is economically active but not in employment. They are part of the labour force, but do not have a job. 
Economically inactive - people of working age (16-64) who are not looking for work, for a variety of reasons (e.g students, those who are sick/caring for others). Also includes discouraged workers. Not part of the labour force. 
Discouraged workers - people who have been unable to find employment and are no longer looking for work. 
Unemployment rate - the percentage of the labour force registered as unemployed. 
Employment rate - the percentage of the population of working age (labour force) that is employed. 
Labour force - the number of people in employment + the registered unemployed.  
Participation rate - percentage of people in the population in the labour force. 
Long term unemployment - number of people out of work for at least one year. 
Vacancies - the number of registered jobs available yet unfilled. 
Underemployment - when someone is employed in a second-choice occupation or wants to work full-time but works part-time (e.g a lawyer working as a cashier) 

 To be in employment is to be working for a firm/organisation or to be self-employed. 

Unemployment in the UK is measured in two ways: 

Claimant Count 
The number of people who claim the Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA). Claimants can receive this for six months. By claiming JSA, the claimant states that they are out of work and capable of, available for and seeking work during the week in which the claim is made. 

 A downside to this is that some people claiming JSA are not actually prepared to or available to work. It also doesn't include some who are looking for work but not eligible to claim JSA (e.g women returning to the labour force after childbirth) 

Labour Force Survey (LFS) 
Number of people who have looked for work in the past month, and are able to start work in the next two weeks. This measure usually exceeds the claimant count by over 600,000. 

 The ILO unemployment rate is based on the LFS. It measures the percentage of the workforce that are without jobs, looking for jobs, and are willing and available to work. 

 This data is based on a sample survey, so it is possible that it isn't fully representative of the UK as a whole. 


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