How this calculator works
The unemployment rate divides people who are unemployed by the labour force, the sum of employed and unemployed people. To count as unemployed a person must be without work, available to start and actively searching, so people who have given up looking are outside the labour force and do not appear in the rate. Dividing the labour force by the adult population gives the participation rate, which shows how many people are available to work at all. A falling unemployment rate is good news only when participation is stable or rising; if people are leaving the labour force, the rate can fall while the jobs picture worsens.
Formula
Unemployment rate = unemployed / (employed + unemployed), displayed as a percentage. The labour force is employed + unemployed, and the participation rate is labour force / adult population. To solve for unemployed people, multiply the unemployment rate by the labour force; to recover the employed count from a rate, divide the unemployed count by the rate and subtract it.
Worked example
With 19,000 thousand employed and 1,000 thousand unemployed, the labour force is 20,000 thousand and the unemployment rate is 5%. An adult population of 26,000 thousand gives a participation rate of 76.9231%.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between unemployed and not in the labour force?
Unemployed people are actively looking for work. People outside the labour force are not looking, whether because they are studying, retired, caring for family or discouraged. Only the first group counts in the unemployment rate.
Is the unemployment rate the same as the employment rate?
No. The employment rate divides employed people by the adult population, while the unemployment rate divides unemployed people by the labour force. The two use different denominators and can move in opposite directions.
Which population should I use for participation?
Use the same age boundary as the employment figures, usually 15 or 16 and over. Including children understates participation, and using a broader adult population makes the rate incomparable with official figures.