The state of being unemployed or not having a job:
Lack of paid employment. The unemployed are usually defined as those out of work who are available for and actively seeking work. Unemployment is measured either as a total or as a percentage of those who are available for work, known as the working population, or labor force. Periods of widespread unemployment in Europe and the us in the 20th century include 1929–1930s, and the years since the mid-1970s. In 1993, more than 820 million people—30% of the world's labor force—were unemployed or working for less than a subsistence wage. Unemployment in oecd nations 1993 was 8.5%, or 35 million people.
Unemployment is, generally, subdivided into frictional unemployment, the inevitable temporary unemployment of those moving from one job to another; cyclical unemployment, caused by a downswing in the business cycle; seasonal unemployment, in an area where there is high demand only during vacation periods, for example; and structural unemployment, where changing technology or other long-term change in the economy results in large numbers without work.
Many Third World countries suffer from severe unemployment and underemployment; the problem is exacerbated by rapid growth of population and lack of skills. In industrialized countries, unemployment has been a phenomenon since the mid-1970s, when the rise in world oil prices caused a downturn in economic activity, and greater use of high technology has improved output without the need for more jobs. The average unemployment rate in industrialized countries (the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) rose to 11% in 1987 compared with only 3% in 1970, with some countries, such as Spain and Ireland, suffering around 20%. There continues to be a great deal of youth unemployment despite government training and job creation schemes. In the us the official unemployment rate was 5.3% in 1989, but it is estimated that 20% to 25% of those who want employment cannot find any (and have never had a job or are out of work longer than unemployment compensation is paid, so are not counted by la
Bor statisticians). In China, nearly a quarter of the urban labor force is unemployed. + prikaži više