What is Unemployment?

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What is Unemployment?

An individual is unemployed if they are able and willing to work, or actively seeking employment, but are unable to find suitable job opportunities (ONS). If a person is actively seeking work in the previous 4 weeks and ready to work in the next 2 weeks, then they are considered unemployed.

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Task: It is important for us to differ between someone who is recorded as unemployed, and someone who is out of employment but not actively seeking employment. We classify these people as economically inactive. Could you suggest some examples of people who may not be in employment, but would not be recorded as unemployed?

How is Unemployment Measured?

The Labour Force Survey (LFS): The Labour Force Survey is a quarterly study of the employment circumstances of the UK population, conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The LFS surveys a representative sample of the country, typically 1 million people, and seeks to categorise individuals into one of employed, unemployed and economically inactive.

Claimant Count: The Claimant Count measures the unemployment levels based upon the level of individuals who are eligible to claim unemployment-related benefits from the government. It is collated by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and measures the number of people measured as unemployed and actively receiving help from the government. Most commonly, the Claimant Count includes people receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit.

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The following graph compares the measurements of the Claimant Count and the Labour Force Survey. Despite using different methods of recording unemployment levels, both display trends in unemployment similarly, showing that they do a good job at measuring unemployment.

The Fraser of Allander Institute regularly publish reviews of the Scottish labour market, and assess the levels of employment and activity in Scotland. If you are interested in learning more about Scotland’s labour market then follow the following link:

Economic inactivity and ill-health in Scotland | FAI

Inactivity is an indicator of the state of the labour market that measures how much of the population is not in work and is not ready to start work in the near future. It is typically calculated…

fraserofallander.org

Economic inactivity and ill-health in Scotland | FAI

Below are some of the key takeaways from this report:

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, economic activity among working-age people has risen
Economic inactivity due to ill-health has risen most notably since the Covid-19 pandemic, it is unclear whether this is due to ‘Long-Covid’
There has been a significant rise in economic inactivity due to depression or mental illness since 2019