Unemployment rate
Definition. The unemployment rate is the number of people who are unemployed expressed as a percentage of the total labour force, which comprises those employed plus those unemployed. It is the standard headline measure of the extent of unemployment in an economy.
The rate excludes those not in the labour force, such as full time students and retirees. It may understate joblessness when discouraged workers stop searching and are no longer counted as unemployed.
This term belongs to Unemployment in A Level Economics. Read the full chapter for the diagrams, worked examples and exam technique.
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