Unemployment is a widespread phenomenon that affects people in both developed and developing nations. Its causes are complex, ranging from economic fluctuations to structural changes in industries. It can be broken down into three main categories: cyclical unemployment, frictional unemployment and structural unemployment.
Government labor offices around the world collect and analyze unemployment statistics. They study trends in overall joblessness, as well as statistical differences in unemployment between various groups—such as age, gender, ethnicity and occupation. They also analyze the impact of various policies on unemployment levels.
The primary source for US unemployment data is the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS), which includes a series of questions asked of randomly selected households about their employment situation. The CPS interviews about sixty thousand households each month. The questions are designed to give the most accurate picture possible of employment status. For example, the questions ask about whether people are employed full time or part time and what their main occupation and industry is. This information is used to produce the nation’s unemployment rate, which is a measure of how many people are jobless, compared to the total number of people working.
A person is counted as unemployed if they have not been employed in the past four weeks and they are available to work. It is important to note that there are some people who do not qualify as unemployed, such as those who have a job but have been unable to work due to illness or child care responsibilities and people in training programs for future jobs who cannot start those jobs because of their ongoing training.