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Skip Navigation LinksLabour Market Statistics and Publications > Concepts > Unemployment Rate and Number
Unemployment Rate and Number
LABOUR SUPPLY
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Unemployment Employment Job Vacancy Retrenchment Re-entry Into Employment Labour Turnover Labour Force Underemployment Income Hours Worked Employment Conditions Labour Relations Workplace Safety and Health Medical Benefits Labour Productivity Training and Higher Education

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Uses and Limitations

The unemployment rate is probably the best-known measure of the labour market. It measures unutilised labour supply and is useful in the study of the economic cycle as it is closely related to economic fluctuations.


Unemployment can vary due to changes in demand or supply of manpower.
 

Unemployment rates by specific groups, defined e.g. by age and educational attainment are useful in identifying groups of persons most vulnerable to unemployment.