Measurement of Unemployment (Cambridge (CIE) O Level Economics)

The Claimant Count and Labour Force Survey

• Unemployment is often measured using two different approaches

  • The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Survey

  • The Claimant Count
    

The Differences Between the ILO Labour Force Survey and the Claimant Count

Calculating the Unemployment Rate

Three Metrics Are Commonly Used When Analysing the Labour Market in an Economy

• The employment rate could be increasing even as the unemployment rate is increasing:

  • May be caused by increased immigration which causes working age population to increase

  • May be caused as people move from being economically inactive to employed

• Unemployment rates do not capture the hidden unemployment that occurs in the long term

  • Workers look for a job but may eventually give up and become economically inactive

  • This actually improves the unemployment rate as fewer people are actively seeking work