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The percent of the labor force that do not have jobs but who want to work and are available to work.

This labour market indicator measures the proportion of the labour force that is unemployed at a given point in time. It reflects the inability of the of an economy to generate employment for those persons who want to work but are not doing so, even though they are available for employment and actively seeking work. It is thus seen as an indicator of the efficiency and effectiveness of an economy to absorb labor force and the performance of the labor market. Unemployment rate is a lagging economic indicator that gives an idea of the utilization of labor.

SIB, UNSTATS

SIB-Wendy Benavides

April and September of each year

Percentage (%)

Unemployed individuals are those persons who could have started a job or a business if one had been offered during the past two weeks. The labor force includes those eligible for employment and currently employed. Discouraged individuals who are no longer seeking work are excluded from the labour force. This in turn, reduces the unemployment rate even though there is no change in the economy or labour market. Short-term time series of the unemployment rate can be used to signal changes in the business cycle; upward movements in the indicator often coincide with recessionary periods or in some cases with the beginning of an expansionary period as persons previously not in the labor market begin to test conditions through an active job search.

Persons in unemployment are defined as all those of working age (usually persons aged 15 and above) who were not in employment, carried out activities to seek employment during a specified recent period and were currently available to take up employment given a job opportunity, where: a) “not in employment” is assessed with respect to the short reference period for the measurement of employment; b) to “seek employment” refers to any activity when carried out, during a specified recent period comprising the last four weeks or one month, for the purpose of finding a job or setting up a business or agricultural undertaking; c) the point when the enterprise starts to exist should be used to distinguish between search activities aimed at setting up a business and the work activity itself, as evidenced by the enterprise’s registration to operate or by when financial resources become available, the necessary infrastructure or materials are in place or the first client or order is received, depending on the context; d) “currently available” serves as a test of readiness to start a job in the present, assessed with respect to a short reference period comprising that used to measure employment (depending on national circumstances, the reference period may be extended to include a short subsequent period not exceeding two weeks in total, so as to ensure adequate coverage of unemployment situations among different population groups).

Persons in employment are defined as all those of working age (usually persons aged 15 and above) who, during a short reference period such as one week or one day, performed work for others in exchange for pay or profit. The labour force corresponds to the sum of persons in employment and in unemployment For more information on the definitions of employment and unemployment refer to the Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labor under utilization Adopted by the 19th International Conference of Labor Statisticians.

Disaggregation is by sex, age and persons with disabilities

Census and Survey: Labour Force Survey: A direct method which randomly selects 2,800 households across the country to participate. The survey captures demographic information of each household member with most questions asking about the employment status of persons 14 years and older.

The unemployment rate is then derived as follows: (Number of unemployed)/(Total Labour Force) X 100

This indicator can be used to improve government employment and human resources policies, as well as for labor market analysis by economists and planners in both the private and public sector.

Infrequent calculations which do not allow for the estimation of an annual unemployment rate.

The SIB conducts a Labour Force Survey twice a year during the months of April and September which are considered periods of high and low peaks of employment. Estimates are produced for each round at the national and district level as well as for urban and rural areas at the national level.