Definitions

Notations

Population (P) = Number of people aged 18-64

Employment (E) = Number of the employed aged 18-64

Unemployment (U) = Number of the unemployed aged 18-64

Labor force (LF) = U + E

Employment rate = E/P

The share of the individuals aged 18-64 who are employed

Unemployment rate = U/LF

The share of the labor force who are unemployed

Labor force participation rate = LF/P

The share of the individuals aged 18-64 who are in the labor force

Who is classified as Employed and as Unemployed?

We follow the definitions of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Current Population Survey.

Employed

The employed are people who were either at work or absent from work last week.

What does "at work" mean?

- You had a job, worked some hours and received pay or profit.

- You did unpaid work at a business owned by someone your household for at least 15 hours last week.

What does "absent from work" mean?

- You had a job, did not work any hours for pay, and were not on temporary or indefinite layoff from the job.

Unemployment

The unemployed are people who were either layoff or looking for work last week.

What does "layoff" mean?

- You were on temporary layoff/furlough/unpaid leave from a job and could have returned to work last week if you had been recalled.

What does "looking for work" mean?

- You did not have a job, or were on temporary/indefinite leave;

- You had actively looked for work in the last four weeks; and

- You would be available to work if you had been offered a job last week.

Not in the labor force

People were not in the labor force if they were not working and were not looking for work

What does "not working" mean?

- You did not have a job, or did unpaid work at a household business for less than 15 hours last week

What does "not looking for work" mean?

- You were either not actively looking for work, or not be available to work if you had been offered a job last week.