see also: unemployment
------
Table of Contents:
Payroll vs "Unemployment" data:
Payroll: the difficulty with the payroll number is discerning the signal (the shift in trend) from the noise (the 100k plus standard error around that trend.) That's why many analysts prefer to focus on the unemployment rate; it might lag a bit, but the serial correlation is high and the magnitude of monthly changes provides information about trend strength.
Lagging indicator:
Remember also that (un) employment data is a lagging indicator. We have spoken of that for years, but only now is the general public media noting that aspect of employment. Great
The problem is that the statistics aren't an objective measure of reality; they are simply a best approximation created by smart people working for government agencies. Directionally, they capture the trends, but the idea that we know precisely how many are unemployed is a myth. That makes finding a solution all the more difficult. First, there is the way the data is assembled. The official unemployment rate is the product as a telephone survey of about 60,000 homes. There is another survey, sometimes referred to as the "payroll survey," that assesses 400,000 businesses based on their reported payrolls.
Both surveys have problems. The payroll survey can easily double-count someone: if you are one person with two jobs, you show up as two workers. While that can overstate the number of people employed, it could also overstate the consequences of payrolls contracting (if you have two jobs and lose one, that's bad, but not nearly as bad as losing the only job you have). The payroll survey alsodoesn't capture the number of self-employed (estimated at 9.5 million people), and so sayslittle about how many people are generating an independent income. The household survey has a larger problem. When asked point-blank, people tend to lie or shade the truth when the subject
Critics have been saying for years that current statistics underplay how dire the employment situation is because the number of workers no longer looking for work has gone up; because many of those officially employed are "involuntarily" working fewer hours; and because saying you're "self-employed" is a face-saving way of saying you're unemployed. On the flip side, you can say you're self- employed in the household survey but also be on the payroll of a company.
Crisis 2009:
almost 2,000,000 lost jobs in the last three months in the US is a catastrophe. China lost a reported 20,000,000 jobs in the last quarter, and migrant workers came back to the cities after Chinese New Year to find factories and jobs simply gone.
Historical data:
Read more: http://www.economist.com/node/21548255?fsrc=nlw%7Chig%7C2-23-2012%7Ceditors_highlights
Older data
|
Country
|
Unemployment rate (%)
|
| Afghanistan |
40% (2005 est.) |
| Albania |
13.8% official rate, but may exceed 30% due to preponderance of near-subsistence farming (September 2006 est.) |
| Algeria |
15.7% (2006 est.) |
| American Samoa |
29.8% (2005) |
| Andorra |
0% (1996 est.) |
| Angola |
extensive unemployment and underemployment affecting more than half the population (2001 est.) |
| Anguilla |
8% (2002) |
| Antigua and Barbuda |
11% (2001 est.) |
| Argentina |
8.7% (2006 est.) |
| Armenia |
7.4% (November 2006 est.) |
| Aruba |
6.9% (2005 est.) |
| Australia |
4.9% (2006 est.) |
| Austria |
4.9% (2006 est.) |
| Azerbaijan |
1.2% official rate (2006 est.) |
| Bahamas, The |
10.2% (2005 est.) |
| Bahrain |
15% (2005 est.) |
| Bangladesh |
2.5% (includes underemployment) (2006 est.) |
| Barbados |
10.7% (2003 est.) |
| Belarus |
1.6% officially registered unemployed; large number of underemployed workers (2005) |
| Belgium |
8.1% (2006 est.) |
| Belize |
9.4% (2006) |
| Benin |
NA% |
| Bermuda |
2.1% (2004 est.) |
| Bhutan |
2.5% (2004) |
| Bolivia |
7.8% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2006 est.) |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina |
45.5% official rate; grey economy may reduce actual unemployment to 25-30% (31 December 2004 est.) |
| Botswana |
23.8% (2004) |
| Brazil |
9.6% (2006 est.) |
| British Virgin Islands |
3.6% (1997) |
| Brunei |
4% (2006) |
| Bulgaria |
9.6% (2006 est.) |
| Burkina Faso |
NA% |
| Burma |
10.2% (2006 est.) |
| Burundi |
NA% |
| Cambodia |
2.5% (2000 est.) |
| Cameroon |
30% (2001 est.) |
| Canada |
6.4% (2006 est.) |
| Cape Verde |
21% (2000 est.) |
| Cayman Islands |
4.4% (2004) |
| Central African Republic |
8% (23% for Bangui) (2001 est.) |
| Chad |
NA% |
| Chile |
7.8% (2006) |
| China |
4.2% official registered unemployment in urban areas in 2005; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2005) |
| Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
60% (2000 est.) |
| Colombia |
11.1% (2006 est.) |
| Comoros |
20% (1996 est.) |
| Congo, Democratic Republic of the |
NA% |
| Congo, Republic of the |
NA% |
| Cook Islands |
13.1% (2005) |
| Costa Rica |
6.6% (2006 est.) |
| Cote d'Ivoire |
13% in urban areas (1998) |
| Croatia |
17.2% official rate; labor force surveys indicate unemployment around 14% (2006 est.) |
| Cuba |
1.9% (2006 est.) |
| Cyprus |
area under government control: 5.5% (2005 est.)
area administered by Turkish Cypriots: 5.6% (2004 est.) |
| Czech Republic |
8.4% (2006 est.) |
| Denmark |
3.8% (2006 est.) |
| Djibouti |
50% (2004 est.) |
| Dominica |
23% (2000 est.) |
| Dominican Republic |
16% (2006 est.) |
| Ecuador |
10.6% official rate; but underemployment of 47% (2006 est.) |
| Egypt |
10.3% (2006 est.) |
| El Salvador |
6% official rate; but the economy has much underemployment (2006 est.) |
| Equatorial Guinea |
30% (1998 est.) |
| Eritrea |
NA% |
| Estonia |
4.5% (2006) |
| Ethiopia |
NA% |
| European Union |
8.5% (2006 est.) |
| Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) |
full employment; labor shortage (2001) |
| Faroe Islands |
2.1% (2006) |
| Fiji |
7.6% (1999) |
| Finland |
7% (2006 est.) |
| France |
8.7% (December 2006 est.) |
| French Polynesia |
11.7% (2005) |
| Gabon |
21% (1997 est.) |
| Gambia, The |
NA% |
| Gaza Strip |
20.3% (includes West Bank) (2005) |
| Georgia |
12.6% (2004 est.) |
| Germany |
7.1%
note: this is the International Labor Organization's estimated rate for international comparisons; Germany's Federal Employment Office estimated a seasonally adjusted rate of 10.8% (2006 est.) |
| Ghana |
20% (1997 est.) |
| Gibraltar |
2% (2001 est.) |
| Greece |
9.2% (2006 est.) |
| Greenland |
9.3% (2005 est.) |
| Grenada |
12.5% (2000) |
| Guam |
11.4% (2002 est.) |
| Guatemala |
3.2% (2005 est.) |
| Guernsey |
0.9% (March 2006 est.) |
| Guinea |
NA% |
| Guinea-Bissau |
NA% |
| Guyana |
9.1% (understated) (2000) |
| Haiti |
widespread unemployment and underemployment; more than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs (2002 est.) |
| Honduras |
27.9% (2006 est.) |
| Hong Kong |
4.9% (2006 est.) |
| Hungary |
7.4% (2006 est.) |
| Iceland |
1.3% (2006 est.) |
| India |
7.8% (2006 est.) |
| Indonesia |
12.5% (2006 est.) |
| Iran |
15% according to the Iranian government (2007 est.) |
| Iraq |
25% to 30% (2005 est.) |
| Ireland |
4.3% (2006 est.) |
| Isle of Man |
1.5% (December 2006 est.) |
| Israel |
8.3% (30 September 2006) |
| Italy |
7% (2006 est.) |
| Jamaica |
11.3% (2006 est.) |
| Japan |
4.1% (2006 est.) |
| Jersey |
2.2% (2006 est.) |
| Jordan |
15.4% official rate; unofficial rate is approximately 30% (2006 est.) |
| Kazakhstan |
7.4% (2006 est.) |
| Kenya |
40% (2001 est.) |
| Kiribati |
2% official rate; underemployment 70% (1992 est.) |
| Korea, North |
NA% |
| Korea, South |
3.3% (December 2006 est.) |
| Kuwait |
2.2% (2004 est.) |
| Kyrgyzstan |
18% (2004 est.) |
| Laos |
2.4% (2005 est.) |
| Latvia |
6.5% (December 2006 est.) |
| Lebanon |
20% (2006 est.) |
| Lesotho |
45% (2002) |
| Liberia |
85% (2003 est.) |
| Libya |
30% (2004 est.) |
| Liechtenstein |
1.3% (September 2002) |
| Lithuania |
3.7%
note: based on survey data, official registered unemployment of 5.7% (2006 est.) |
| Luxembourg |
4.1% (2006 est.) |
| Macau |
4.1% (2005) |
| Macedonia |
36% (September 2006 est.) |
| Malawi |
NA% |
| Malaysia |
3.5% (2006 est.) |
| Maldives |
NEGL% (2003 est.) |
| Mali |
14.6% (2001 est.) |
| Malta |
6.8% (2005 est.) |
| Marshall Islands |
30.9% (2000 est.) |
| Mauritania |
20% (2004 est.) |
| Mauritius |
9.4% (2006 est.) |
| Mayotte |
25.4% (2005) |
| Mexico |
3.2% plus underemployment of perhaps 25% (2006 est.) |
| Micronesia, Federated States of |
22% (2000 est.) |
| Moldova |
7.3%; note - roughly 25% of working age Moldovans are employed abroad (2005 est.) |
| Monaco |
0% (2005) |
| Mongolia |
3.3% (2005) |
| Montenegro |
27.7% (2005) |
| Montserrat |
6% (1998 est.) |
| Morocco |
7.7% (2006 est.) |
| Mozambique |
21% (1997 est.) |
| Namibia |
5.3% (2006 est.) |
| Nauru |
90% (2004 est.) |
| Nepal |
42% (2004 est.) |
| Netherlands |
5.5% (2006 est.) |
| Netherlands Antilles |
17% (2002 est.) |
| New Caledonia |
17.1% (2004) |
| New Zealand |
3.8% (2006 est.) |
| Nicaragua |
3.8% plus underemployment of 46.5% (2006 est.) |
| Niger |
NA% |
| Nigeria |
5.8% (2006 est.) |
| Niue |
12% (2001) |
| Norfolk Island |
0% |
| Northern Mariana Islands |
3.9% (2001) |
| Norway |
3.5% (2006 est.) |
| Oman |
15% (2004 est.) |
| Pakistan |
6.5% plus substantial underemployment (2006 est.) |
| Palau |
4.2% (2005 est.) |
| Panama |
8.8% (2006 est.) |
| Papua New Guinea |
2% up to 80% in urban areas (2004) |
| Paraguay |
9.4% (2005 est.) |
| Peru |
7.2% in metropolitan Lima; widespread underemployment (2006 est.) |
| Philippines |
7.9% (2006 est.) |
| Poland |
14.9% (November 2006 est.) |
| Portugal |
7.6% (2006 est.) |
| Puerto Rico |
12% (2002) |
| Qatar |
3.2% (2006 est.) |
| Romania |
6.1% (2006 est.) |
| Russia |
6.6% plus considerable underemployment (2006 est.) |
| Rwanda |
NA% |
| Saint Helena |
14% (1998 est.) |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis |
4.5% (1997) |
| Saint Lucia |
20% (2003 est.) |
| Saint Pierre and Miquelon |
10.3% (1999) |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
15% (2001 est.) |
| Samoa |
NA% |
| San Marino |
3.8% (2004) |
| Sao Tome and Principe |
NA% |
| Saudi Arabia |
13% among Saudi males only (local bank estimate; some estimates range as high as 25%) (2004 est.) |
| Senegal |
48%; note - urban youth 40% (2001 est.) |
| Serbia |
31.6%
note: unemployment is approximately 50% in Kosovo (2005 est.) |
| Seychelles |
NA% |
| Sierra Leone |
NA% |
| Singapore |
3.1% (2006 est.) |
| Slovakia |
10.2% (2006 est.) |
| Slovenia |
9.6% (2006 est.) |
| Solomon Islands |
NA% |
| Somalia |
NA% |
| South Africa |
25.5% (2006 est.) |
| Spain |
8.1% (October 2006 est.) |
| Sri Lanka |
7.6% (2006 est.) |
| Sudan |
18.7% (2002 est.) |
| Suriname |
9.5% (2004) |
| Swaziland |
40% (2006 est.) |
| Sweden |
5.6% (2006 est.) |
| Switzerland |
3.3% (2006 est.) |
| Syria |
12.5% (2005 est.) |
| Taiwan |
3.9% (2006 est.) |
| Tajikistan |
12% (2004 est.) |
| Tanzania |
NA% |
| Thailand |
2.1% (2006 est.) |
| Timor-Leste |
50% estimated; note - unemployment in urban areas reached 20%; data do not include underemployed (2001 est.) |
| Togo |
NA% |
| Tokelau |
NA% |
| Tonga |
13% (FY03/04 est.) |
| Trinidad and Tobago |
7% (2006 est.) |
| Tunisia |
13.9% (2006 est.) |
| Turkey |
10.2% plus underemployment of 4% (2006 est.) |
| Turkmenistan |
60% (2004 est.) |
| Turks and Caicos Islands |
10% (1997 est.) |
| Tuvalu |
NA% |
| Uganda |
NA% |
| Ukraine |
2.7% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers; the International Labor Organization calculates that Ukraine's real unemployment level is 6.7% (2006) |
| United Arab Emirates |
2.4% (2001) |
| United Kingdom |
2.9% (2006 est.) |
| United States |
4.8% (2006 est.) |
| Uruguay |
10.8% (2006 est.) |
| Uzbekistan |
3% officially by the Ministry of Labor, plus another 20% underemployed (2006) |
| Vanuatu |
1.7% (1999) |
| Venezuela |
8.9% (October 2006 est.) |
| Vietnam |
2% (2006 est.) |
| Virgin Islands |
6.2% (2004) |
| Wallis and Futuna |
15.2% (2003) |
| West Bank |
20.3% (includes Gaza Strip) (2005) |
| Western Sahara |
NA% |
| World |
30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2006 est.) |
| Yemen |
35% (2003 est.) |
| Zambia |
50% (2000 est.) |
| Zimbabwe |
80% (2005 est.) |
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