How unemployment is measured

Who counts as unemployed, and why the rate is a share of the labour force.

Under the international (ILO) definition, a person is unemployed if they have no job, are available to start within two weeks, and have looked for work recently.

The unemployment rate divides the number of unemployed people by the labour force: everyone employed or unemployed. Students, retirees and others not looking for work are outside the labour force.

Survey-based rates (Eurostat, OECD) and modelled estimates (ILO) can differ slightly. Registered unemployment published by job centres follows national rules and is usually different again.

Measures on this site

• Unemployment rate, ages 15 to 74 (Eurostat)
• Monthly unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) (Eurostat)
• Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) (ILOSTAT)
• Youth unemployment rate, ages 15 to 24 (Eurostat)
• Employment rate, ages 20 to 64 (Eurostat)