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
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | 17.6 | 18.0 | 17.3 | 14.2 | 13.4 |
| Algeria | 9.8 | 10.6 | 11.2 | 10.5 | 11.7 |
| Argentina | 7.1 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| Armenia | 16.2 | 17.8 | 19.5 | 17.1 | 18.0 |
| Australia | 5.7 | 6.1 | 6.1 | 5.7 | 5.6 |
| Austria | 4.9 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 6.0 | 5.5 |
| Azerbaijan | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Bahrain | 4.3 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.3 | - |
| Bangladesh | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.0 |
| Belarus | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| Belgium | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 7.9 | 7.1 |
| Belize | 14.2 | 12.1 | 10.2 | 11.1 | 9.7 |
| Bolivia | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | - |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 27.5 | 27.5 | 27.7 | - | - |
| Brazil | 7.1 | 6.8 | 8.5 | 11.5 | 12.7 |
| Brunei | 7.7 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 6.9 |
| Bulgaria | 11.8 | 10.7 | 10.0 | 8.0 | 7.1 |
| Canada | 7.1 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 6.3 |
| Chile | 5.9 | 6.4 | 6.2 | 6.5 | 6.7 |
| China | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.9 |
| Colombia | 9.6 | 9.1 | 8.9 | 9.2 | 9.4 |
| Costa Rica | 8.3 | 9.7 | 9.6 | 9.5 | 9.3 |
| Croatia | 21.5 | 19.4 | 17.6 | 14.7 | 12.2 |
| Cyprus | 15.9 | 16.2 | 14.9 | 13.0 | 11.1 |
| Czech Republic | 7.0 | 6.1 | 5.1 | 4.0 | 2.9 |
| Denmark | 5.8 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.2 |
| Dominican Republic | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ecuador | 4.0 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 5.4 | - |
| Egypt | 13.2 | 13.0 | 12.8 | 12.5 | 11.8 |
| El Salvador | 5.9 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | - |
| Estonia | 8.6 | 7.3 | 6.2 | - | - |
| Eurozone | 12.0 | 11.6 | 10.9 | 10.0 | 9.1 |
| Finland | 8.4 | 8.7 | 9.3 | 8.9 | 8.6 |
| France | 10.3 | 10.3 | 10.4 | 10.1 | 9.4 |
| Germany | 6.9 | 6.7 | 6.4 | 6.1 | 5.7 |
| Ghana | - | - | - | - | - |
| Greece | 27.5 | 26.6 | 25.0 | 23.6 | 21.5 |
| Hungary | 10.1 | 7.7 | 6.8 | 5.1 | 4.2 |
| Iceland | 5.4 | 4.9 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 2.8 |
| Indonesia | 6.2 | 5.9 | 6.2 | 5.6 | 5.5 |
| Iran | 10.5 | 11.5 | 11.8 | 12.5 | 12.1 |
| Iraq | 7.9 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 8.0 | 8.2 |
| Ireland | 13.8 | 11.9 | 10.0 | 8.4 | 6.7 |
| Israel | 6.3 | 5.9 | 5.3 | 4.8 | 4.2 |
| Italy | 12.1 | 12.6 | 11.9 | 11.7 | 11.3 |
| Jamaica | 15.3 | 13.7 | 13.5 | 13.2 | 13.0 |
| Japan | 4.0 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 2.8 |
| Jordan | 12.6 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 15.3 | 18.3 |
| Kazakhstan | 5.2 | 5.0 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| Korea | 3.1 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| Kosovo | - | - | - | - | - |
| Kuwait | 2.6 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| Latvia | 11.9 | 10.9 | 9.9 | 9.7 | 8.7 |
| Lebanon | 6.2 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 6.3 |
| Lithuania | 11.4 | 10.1 | 8.8 | 7.6 | 6.7 |
| Luxembourg | 6.8 | 7.1 | 6.8 | 6.4 | 5.9 |
| Macedonia | 29.0 | 28.0 | 26.1 | 23.7 | 22.4 |
| Malaysia | 3.1 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 3.4 |
| Malta | 6.4 | 5.8 | 5.4 | 4.7 | 4.0 |
| Mexico | 4.3 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.1 |
| Moldova | 4.1 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 3.3 |
| Mongolia | 7.9 | 7.9 | 7.5 | 10.0 | 8.8 |
| Montenegro | 19.5 | 18.0 | 17.6 | 17.7 | 17.0 |
| Morocco | 9.2 | 9.7 | 9.6 | 9.9 | 9.9 |
| Myanmar | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Netherlands | 7.3 | 7.4 | 6.9 | 6.0 | 4.9 |
| New Zealand | 5.8 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.1 | 4.7 |
| Nicaragua | - | - | - | - | - |
| Nigeria | 3.7 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 7.1 | 7.0 |
| Norway | 3.8 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.2 |
| Oman | 17.1 | 16.4 | 15.8 | 15.8 | 16.0 |
| Pakistan | 6.0 | 6.0 | 5.9 | 6.0 | - |
| Panama | 4.1 | 4.8 | 5.1 | 5.5 | 6.1 |
| Paraguay | 7.9 | 6.5 | 5.5 | 7.4 | - |
| Peru | 6.0 | 5.9 | 6.5 | 6.7 | 6.9 |
| Philippines | 7.1 | 6.8 | 6.3 | 5.5 | 5.7 |
| Poland | 13.4 | 11.4 | 9.7 | 8.2 | 6.6 |
| Portugal | 16.5 | 14.1 | 12.7 | 11.2 | 9.0 |
| Puerto Rico | 14.0 | 14.3 | 13.0 | 11.7 | 11.5 |
| Qatar | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Romania | 7.1 | 6.8 | 6.8 | 5.9 | 4.9 |
| Russia | 5.5 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 5.5 | 5.2 |
| Saudi Arabia | 5.6 | 5.8 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.9 |
| Serbia | 22.1 | 19.2 | 17.7 | 15.3 | 13.5 |
| Singapore | 1.9 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 2.2 |
| Slovakia | 14.2 | 13.2 | 11.5 | 9.7 | 8.1 |
| Slovenia | 10.2 | 9.7 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 6.6 |
| South Africa | 24.7 | 25.1 | 25.4 | 26.7 | 27.5 |
| Spain | 26.1 | 24.4 | 22.1 | 19.6 | 17.2 |
| Sri Lanka | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.2 |
| Sweden | 8.0 | 7.9 | 7.4 | 6.9 | 6.7 |
| Switzerland | 3.2 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
| Taiwan | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.8 |
| Tajikistan | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.1 |
| Thailand | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.0 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 3.7 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.9 | - |
| Tunisia | 15.8 | 15.0 | 15.2 | 15.5 | 15.4 |
| Turkey | 9.1 | 10.0 | 10.3 | 10.9 | 10.9 |
| USA | 7.4 | 6.2 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 4.4 |
| Ukraine | 7.2 | 9.3 | 9.1 | 9.4 | 9.5 |
| United Arab Emirates | 2.8 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 1.7 |
| United Kingdom | 7.6 | 6.2 | 5.4 | 4.9 | 4.4 |
| Uruguay | 6.5 | 6.6 | 7.5 | 7.9 | 7.9 |
| Venezuela | 7.5 | 7.0 | 6.8 | - | - |
| Vietnam | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.2 | - |
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Unemployment Economic News
Australia: Labor market paints a mixed picture in April
May 16, 2019
Seasonally-adjusted employment increased by 28,400 in April from the previous month, following the revised 27,700 jobs added in March (previously reported: +25,700 jobs) and more than doubling analysts’ expectations of a gain of 14,000.
United Kingdom: Unemployment rate dips in the first quarter, but wage growth slips
May 14, 2019
In the January-March period, the unemployment rate fell to a new multi-decade low of 3.8%, while the employment rate was the joint-highest on record.
Greece: Unemployment rate ticks down in February
May 9, 2019
The number of unemployed workers declined by 5,299 in February compared to January while the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate ticked down to 18.5% from 18.6% in the previous month, according to data released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT).
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