Unemployment

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For payments tax paid to unemployed people, see Unemployment benefits.
"Rate of unemployment" redirects here. For rates in specific countries, see List of
countries by unemployment rate.

Unemployment rate 2017.[1]

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Unemployment, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and

Development (OECD), is when persons above a specified age (usually above 15) [2] are
not in paid employment or self-employment and are currently available for work during
the reference period.[3]
Unemployment is measured by the unemployment rate as the number of people who
are unemployed as a percentage of the labour force (the total number of people
employed plus unemployed).[4]
Unemployment can have many sources, including but not limited to:

 new technologies and inventions
 the status of the economy which could be influenced by a recession
 competition due to globalization and international trade
 policies of the government
 regulation and market
Unemployment and the status of the economy can be influenced by a country through
for example fiscal policy. Furthermore, the monetary authority of a country like
the central bank could influence the availability and cost for money through its monetary
policy.
In addition to theories of unemployment, there are a few categorizations of
unemployment that are used to more precisely model the effects of unemployment
within the economic system. Some of the main types of unemployment
include structural unemployment and frictional unemployment, as well as cyclical
unemployment, involuntary unemployment, and classical unemployment. Structural
unemployment focuses on foundational problems in the economy and inefficiencies
inherent in labor markets, including a mismatch between the supply and demand of
laborers with necessary skill sets. Structural arguments emphasize causes and
solutions related to disruptive technologies and globalization. Discussions of frictional
unemployment focus on voluntary decisions to work based on each individuals'
valuation of their own work and how that compares to current wage rates plus the time
and effort required to find a job. Causes and solutions for frictional unemployment often
address job entry threshold and wage rates.
 One hundred and seventy-two million people globally or 5% of the reported workforce of
the world were without a job in 2018 according to the International Labour
Organization (ILO).[5]
Because of the difficulty to measure the unemployment rate by for example using
surveys like in the United States of America (USA) or through registered unemployed
citizens like in some European countries, statistical figures like the employment-to-
population ratio could be better suited to evaluate the status of the labor force and
the economy if they would be based on people who are registered as for
example taxpayer.[6]

Contents

 1Definitions, types, and theories

o 1.1Classical unemployment
o 1.2Cyclical unemployment
o 1.3Full unemployment
o 1.4Structural unemployment
o 1.5Frictional unemployment
o 1.6Hidden unemployment
o 1.7Long-term unemployment
o 1.8Marxian theory of unemployment
 2Measurement
o 2.1European Union (Eurostat)
o 2.2United States Bureau of Labor statistics
o 2.3Alternatives
 2.3.1Limitations of the unemployment definition
 2.3.2Labor force participation rate
 2.3.3Unemployment ratio
 3Effects