Unemployment: measuring and understanding it
The ILO definition of the unemployed, the labour force, unemployment, employment and activity rates, the halo and underemployment, and the three forms of unemployment with the policy that answers each.
- 25 cards
- 6 topics
- Free
The outline, topic by topic
Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.
- Concepts
- Questions
- Sort and link
- The numbers
- Scenarios
- Understand
A few cards from the deck
Unemployed (ILO definition): what is it?
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A person aged 15 or over who meets three conditions: being without a job, being available within two weeks and having actively looked for a job in the past month.
The three conditions add up: a person without a job who is not available or not searching is inactive, not unemployed. The one exception: someone who has already found a job starting within three months counts as unemployed without searching.
Why does the number of unemployed in the labour force survey differ from the number registered at the job centre?
- One applies ILO criteria, the other counts registrations
- One counts the unemployed, the other counts vacancies
- One is compiled by the state, the other by firms
- Both measure the same thing, with survey error margin
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One applies ILO criteria, the other counts registrations
The survey questions a sample of households and applies the three ILO conditions. Registration is an administrative step: one can be registered without searching, or search without being registered.
The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed divided by the …, not by the total population.
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The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed divided by the labour force, not by the total population.
The inactive are not looking for work: including them in the denominator would lower the rate without any change for the unemployed.
Labour force: what is it?
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All persons in employment plus the unemployed in the ILO sense.
An unemployed person belongs to the labour force: they offer their labour, even without finding work. Students, retirees and people not looking for work are outside it: they are inactive.