Unemployment rate

The percentage of the people classified as unemployed as compared to the total labor force.

Unemployment Rate

The percentage of a population's workforce not working but willing to work and actively seeking a job. A high unemployment rate is considered a negative sign both economically and socially. However, the unemployment rate is a lagging indicator: it rises and falls in response to a macroeconomic change rather than in anticipation of one. This may be because employers do not hire employees unless they are confident that they will be able to afford to retain them.

unemployment rate

the number of unemployed persons expressed as a percentage of the total LABOUR FORCE. See UNEMPLOYMENT.

unemployment rate

the number of unemployed workers expressed as a percentage of a country's LABOUR FORCE. In the UK the unemployment rate is calculated using two measures of the number of people employed: CLAIMANT COUNT UNEMPLOYMENT, which is based on the number of people registering as unemployed at JOB CENTRES, and INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE (ILO) UNEMPLOYMENT, which is based on the LABOUR FORCE SURVEY in which people interviewed state whether they are employed or unemployed. (See UNEMPLOYMENT for further details.) Unemployment rates can be used to measure changing job opportunities over time and between countries. They also provide a summary measure of the degree of under-employment of FACTORS OF PRODUCTION, that is, the extent to which a country's ACTUAL GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT falls short of POTENTIAL GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT, resulting in a DEFLATIONARY GAP. See ACTIVITY RATE, DISGUISED UNEMPLOYMENT, FULL EMPLOYMENT, VACANCY RATE.