Introduction
Unemployment is when a person is not in paid employment or self-employed but without work, available for work, or have taken steps to find work during a given period. This is usually reflected in a country’s unemployment rate, expressed as a percentage. It is most often measured in numbers of unemployed individuals as a percentage of the labour force, meaning the total of unemployed persons plus those in paid employment. Typically, the lower the percentage, the better the economy is doing because more of the workforce is employed; however, it is a lagging indicator, so it only responds to the economy, but does not affect it.
One challenge with comparing the unemployment rate of a country is that it does not directly relate to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). That means a country could have a high GDP but still have a small percentage of the workforce employed. Another challenge with comparing those rates is that countries may use different methods of calculation and presentation. They may also choose different definitions of unemployment or use different age limits. Yet, international organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have created systems to harmonize unemployment rates for the purpose of international comparison.
Learn for yourself how countries compare by country in the map and charts.
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