What is the Unemployment Rate?
The unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of unemployed workers in the total labor force. Workers are considered unemployed if they currently do not work, despite the fact that they are able and willing to do so. The total labor force consists of all employed and unemployed people within an economy.
The unemployment rate provides insights into the economy’s spare capacity and unused resources. Unemployment tends to be cyclical and decreases when the economy expands as companies contract more workers to meet growing demand. Unemployment usually increases as economic activity slows.
There are different types of unemployment: Frictional unemployment refers to temporary unemployment during the period when people are searching for a job. Structural unemployment is a mismatch between workers’ skills or locations and job requirements. Seasonal unemployment is caused by seasonal patterns in economic activity, such as harvesting or tourism.
The methodology for calculating the unemployment rate often varies among countries since different definitions of employment and unemployment, as well as different data sources, are used.
The table below shows the unemployment rate by country for the last five years.
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Unemployment Data
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | 17.3 | 14.2 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.2 |
| Algeria | 11.2 | 10.5 | 11.7 | 11.7 | - |
| Argentina | 7.1 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 9.2 | 9.8 |
| Armenia | 19.5 | 17.1 | 18.0 | 16.9 | 17.9 |
| Australia | 6.1 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.3 | 5.2 |
| Austria | 5.8 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 4.9 | 4.5 |
| Azerbaijan | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.5 |
| Bahrain | 3.5 | 4.3 | 4.1 | - | - |
| Bangladesh | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.0 | - | - |
| Belarus | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 4.8 | 4.0 |
| Belgium | 8.5 | 7.9 | 7.1 | 6.0 | 5.4 |
| Belize | 10.2 | 11.1 | 9.7 | 9.4 | 10.4 |
| Bolivia | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.8 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 27.7 | 25.4 | 20.5 | 18.4 | 15.7 |
| Brazil | 8.5 | 11.5 | 12.7 | 12.3 | 11.9 |
| Brunei | 7.8 | 8.6 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 9.2 |
| Bulgaria | 8.0 | 6.7 | 5.7 | 4.7 | - |
| Canada | 6.9 | 7.0 | 6.3 | 5.8 | 5.7 |
| Chile | 6.3 | 6.5 | 6.6 | 7.4 | 7.2 |
| China | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.6 |
| Colombia | 8.9 | 9.2 | 9.4 | 9.7 | 10.5 |
| Costa Rica | 9.6 | 9.5 | 9.3 | 12.0 | 12.4 |
| Croatia | 17.6 | 14.7 | 12.2 | 9.6 | 7.9 |
| Cyprus | 14.9 | 13.0 | 11.1 | 8.4 | 7.0 |
| Czech Republic | 5.1 | 4.0 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 2.0 |
| Denmark | 4.5 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.6 |
| Dominican Republic | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ecuador | 4.3 | 5.4 | 4.4 | 4.1 | - |
| Egypt | 12.8 | 12.5 | 11.8 | 9.9 | 7.9 |
| El Salvador | 7.0 | 7.0 | - | - | - |
| Estonia | - | - | - | - | - |
| Eurozone | 10.9 | 10.0 | 9.1 | 8.2 | 7.6 |
| Finland | 9.3 | 8.9 | 8.6 | 7.4 | 6.7 |
| France | 10.4 | 10.0 | 9.4 | 9.0 | 8.5 |
| Germany | 6.4 | 6.1 | 5.7 | 5.2 | 5.0 |
| Ghana | - | - | - | - | - |
| Greece | 25.0 | 23.6 | 21.5 | 19.3 | 17.3 |
| Hungary | 6.8 | 5.1 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.4 |
| Iceland | 4.0 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 3.5 |
| Indonesia | 6.2 | 5.6 | 5.5 | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Iran | 11.8 | 12.5 | 12.1 | 12.1 | 10.6 |
| Iraq | 10.7 | 10.8 | 13.0 | 12.9 | 12.8 |
| Ireland | 9.9 | 8.4 | 6.7 | 5.8 | 5.0 |
| Israel | 5.3 | 4.8 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.8 |
| Italy | 11.9 | 11.7 | 11.2 | 10.6 | 9.9 |
| Jamaica | 13.5 | 13.2 | 11.6 | 9.1 | 7.7 |
| Japan | 3.4 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 2.4 |
| Jordan | 13.0 | 15.3 | 18.3 | 18.6 | 19.1 |
| Kazakhstan | 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.8 | - |
| Korea | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.8 |
| Kosovo | - | - | - | - | - |
| Kuwait | 2.2 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 2.2 |
| Latvia | 9.9 | 9.7 | 8.7 | 7.4 | 6.4 |
| Lebanon | 6.2 | 6.3 | 6.1 | 6.2 | 6.2 |
| Lithuania | 8.8 | 7.6 | 6.7 | 6.0 | 6.4 |
| Luxembourg | 6.8 | 6.3 | 5.9 | 5.5 | 5.4 |
| Malaysia | 3.1 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| Malta | 5.4 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 3.4 |
| Mexico | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 2.9 |
| Moldova | 4.2 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 4.3 |
| Mongolia | 7.5 | 10.0 | 8.8 | 7.7 | 10.0 |
| Montenegro | 17.2 | 21.3 | 22.1 | 17.8 | 16.2 |
| Morocco | 9.6 | 9.9 | 10.2 | 9.7 | 9.3 |
| Myanmar | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | - |
| Netherlands | 6.9 | 6.0 | 4.9 | 3.8 | 3.4 |
| New Zealand | 5.4 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 4.1 |
| Nicaragua | - | - | - | - | - |
| Nigeria | 4.3 | 7.1 | 8.4 | 8.2 | 8.1 |
| North Macedonia | 26.1 | 23.7 | 22.4 | 20.7 | 17.3 |
| Norway | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 3.7 |
| Oman | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 2.7 |
| Pakistan | 5.9 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 5.7 | - |
| Panama | 5.1 | 5.5 | 6.1 | 6.0 | 7.1 |
| Paraguay | 5.4 | 6.0 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 5.7 |
| Peru | 6.4 | 6.7 | 6.9 | 6.7 | 6.6 |
| Philippines | 6.3 | 5.5 | 5.7 | 5.3 | 5.1 |
| Poland | 9.7 | 8.2 | 6.6 | 5.8 | 5.2 |
| Portugal | 12.4 | 11.1 | 8.9 | 7.0 | 6.6 |
| Puerto Rico | 12.9 | 11.7 | 11.5 | 10.3 | 8.4 |
| Qatar | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Romania | 6.8 | 5.9 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 3.9 |
| Russia | 5.6 | 5.5 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.6 |
| Saudi Arabia | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 5.6 |
| Serbia | 17.7 | 15.3 | 13.5 | 12.7 | 10.4 |
| Singapore | 1.9 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.3 |
| Slovakia | 11.5 | 9.7 | 8.1 | 6.5 | 5.8 |
| Slovenia | 9.0 | 8.0 | 6.6 | 5.1 | 4.5 |
| South Africa | 25.4 | 26.7 | 27.5 | 27.1 | 28.7 |
| Spain | 22.1 | 19.6 | 17.2 | 15.3 | 14.1 |
| Sri Lanka | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 4.4 | - |
| Sweden | 7.4 | 6.9 | 6.7 | 6.3 | 6.8 |
| Switzerland | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 2.3 |
| Taiwan | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| Tajikistan | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 0.0 | - |
| Thailand | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.0 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 3.4 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 185 | - |
| Tunisia | 15.2 | 15.5 | 15.4 | 15.5 | 15.2 |
| Turkey | 10.3 | 10.9 | 10.9 | 11.0 | 13.7 |
| USA | 5.3 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.7 |
| Ukraine | 9.1 | 9.3 | 9.5 | 8.8 | 8.2 |
| United Arab Emirates | 1.9 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.6 |
| United Kingdom | 5.4 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.8 |
| Uruguay | 7.5 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 8.4 | 8.9 |
| Venezuela | 6.8 | 7.3 | 7.2 | 6.9 | - |
| Vietnam | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.2 |
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Unemployment Economic News
-
Luxembourg: Unemployment rate nears pre-pandemic level in September
October 20, 2021
The number of unemployed workers came in at 15,641 in September, which was down 3.0% from August’s result of 16,123.
-
Australia: Lockdowns hit Australia’s labor market in September
October 14, 2021
Seasonally-adjusted employment fell by a sharp 138,000 in September, following 146,300 jobs shred in August.
-
Greece: Unemployment rate drops again in August
October 13, 2021
The number of unemployed workers decreased by 1,035 in August compared to July, while the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 13.9% in August, compared to 14.0% in July.
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