unemployment

[uhn-em-ploi-muhnt]

noun

1. the state of being unemployed, especially involuntarily.

   Automation poses a threat of unemployment for many unskilled workers.

2. the number of persons who are unemployed.

3. Informal.,  unemployment benefit.

unemployment

/ ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪmənt /

noun

1. the condition of being unemployed

2. the number of unemployed workers, often as a percentage of the total labour force

Other Word Forms

• antiunemployment adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of unemployment¹

First recorded in 1885–90; un- ¹ + employment

Example Sentences

That’s the prevailing view among Wall Street economists based on the limited amount of information available to them — most notably, the weekly tally of how many people applied for unemployment benefits in each state.

Read more on MarketWatch

While the labor market is cooler than in early 2023, unemployment remains relatively low, and labor supply and demand look to be in balance, although both are weaker than in the past.

Read more on Barron's

The latest monthly jobs report, published Sept. 5, showed that employers created 22,000 new jobs in August and that the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Recent data has shown strong economic momentum, with falling unemployment and a sharp rise in lending for new housing.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Despite materially cooler hiring, the unemployment rate isn’t rising.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• bankruptcy 
• collapse 
• decline 
• deflation 
• downturn 
• hard times www.thesaurus.com
• inflation 
• shakeout 
• slide 
• slump 
• stagnation 

When To Use

What does unemployment mean?

Unemployment is the state of not having a paid job—of being unemployed.Unemployment is also commonly used in the context of economics to mean the total number of people unemployed, such as in a country, as in Unemployment is down this quarter, with thousands of new jobs having been created. The opposite of this is employment—the total number of people who are employed. Employment also commonly means the state of being employed.The word unemployment is sometimes used as a short and informal way of referring to an unemployment benefit, which is an allowance of money paid to unemployed workers, such as by the government. People receiving such a benefit are often said to be receiving unemployment.Example: Unemployment is extremely stressful when you go months without any job prospects.