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Indicators on unemployment

Last update: June 2007 Country or area   Adult (15+) unemployment rate Year Total Men Women Source Albania 2003 g 15 13 18 HS Algeria 2004 20 20 21 HS Anguilla 2002 g 8 6 10 HS Antigua and Barbuda 1991 g 6 6 6 PC Argentina 1 2003 16 16 15 HS Armenia 2 1997 36 38 34 HS Aruba 1997 t 7 7 8 HS Australia 2004 a 5 5 6 HS Austria 2004 5 5 5 HS Bahamas 2004 a 10 10 11 HS Bahrain 2001 5 4 10 PC Bangladesh 2003 4 4 5 HS Barbados 2004 10 9 11 HS Belgium 2004 7 7 8 ELFS Belize 2002 g,s 10 8 15 HS Bolivia 2002 g,q 6 4 7 HS Botswana 2001 19 16 22 PC Brazil 3 2003 10 8 12 HS British Virgin Islands 1991 4 4 3 PC Brunei Darussalam 1991 5 4 7 PC Bulgaria 2004 y 12 13 12 HS Burkina Faso 1994 q 3 … … HS Burundi 1990 q 1 1 0 PC Cambodia 2001 2 1 2 HS Cameroon 2001 8 8 7 HS Canada 4 2004 a,b 7 8 7 HS Cayman Islands 1997 a,g 4 3 5 HS Chad 1993 t 1 1 0 PC Chile 2004 8 7 10 HS China 2 2004 g 4 … … OE China, Hong Kong 2004 a 7 8 6 HS China, Macau 2004 a,s 5 6 4 HS Colombia 2004 h,r 14 11 18 HS Costa Rica 2004 6 5 9 HS Croatia 2004 g 14 13 16 HS Cuba 2002 3 … … HS Cyprus 5 2004 5 4 6 HS Czech Republic 2004 8 7 10 HS Denmark 2004 5 5 5 ELFS Djibouti 1991 g 44 42 47 HS Dominica 1997 g 23 20 27 HS Dominican Republic 2004 g,q 18 11 31 HS Ecuador 2 2004 q 9 7 11 HS Egypt 2003 a,g,t 11 7 23 HS El Salvador 2004 7 9 4 HS Eritrea 1984 g 17 15 19 PC Estonia 2004 y 10 10 9 HS Ethiopia 2 2004 a 23 16 31 HS Fiji 1995 g 5 … … OE Finland 2004 9 9 9 HS France 6 2004 10 9 11 HS French Guiana 2004 g 26 23 31 HS Gabon 1993 g,q 18 19 16 PC Georgia 2004 c 13 13 12 HS Germany 2004 i 10 10 9 OE Ghana 2000 8 8 9 HS Greece 2004 10 6 16 ELFS Grenada 1998 15 11 21 HS Guadeloupe 2004 g 25 21 29 HS Guam 1993 g,z 6 2 4 HS Guatemala 2003 q 3 … … HS Guinea 1994 p 3 5 2 HS Guyana 2001 s 9 6 14 BB Haiti 1999 7 6 8 HS Honduras 7 2004 a,q 6 5 8 HS Hungary 2004 6 6 6 HS Iceland 2004 z 3 3 3 HS India 8 2004 j 5 5 5 HS Indonesia 2004 10 8 13 HS Iran, Islamic Republic of 2003 k,q 12 10 20 OE Iraq 2004 27 29 15 HS Ireland 2004 4 5 4 HS Isle of Man 2001 2 2 2 PC Israel 2003 11 10 11 HS Italy 2004 8 6 11 HS Jamaica 2004 s 11 8 16 HS Japan 2004 d 5 5 4 HS Jordan 2004 12 12 17 HS Kazakhstan 2004 8 7 10 HS Kenya 1994 g 21 13 28 HS Korea, Republic of 2004 a 4 4 3 HS Kuwait 2004 2 … … HS Kyrgyzstan 2002 13 11 14 HS Lao People's Democratic Republic 1995 3 3 3 PC Latvia 2004 y 10 11 10 HS Lebanon 1997 g 9 9 7 HS Lesotho 1997 g 39 31 47 HS Lithuania 2004 11 11 12 HS Luxembourg 2004 5 3 7 ELFS Madagascar 2002 g 5 4 6 HS Malawi 1998 q 1 1 1 PC Malaysia 2004 t 4 2 3 HS Maldives 2000 2 … … PC Mali 2004 9 7 11 HS Malta 2004 7 6 9 HS Marshall Islands 1999 g 31 28 37 PC Martinique 2004 g 22 20 25 HS Mauritius 2004 9 6 14 HS Mexico 2004 3 3 3 HS Mongolia 2003 14 14 14 HS Morocco 2003 12 12 13 HS Myanmar 1990 q 6 5 9 HS Namibia 2001 31 27 36 HS Nepal 2001 q 9 7 11 PC Netherlands 2003 4 4 4 HS Netherlands Antilles 9 2003 g 15 … … HS New Caledonia 1996 g,s 19 16 23 PC New Zealand 10 2004 a 4 4 4 HS Nicaragua 2003 l,q 8 8 8 HS Nigeria 11 1995 g 17 18 15 HS Norway 2004 z 4 5 4 HS Pakistan 2004 a,q 8 7 13 HS Panama 2004 12 9 17 HS Papua New Guinea 2000 q 3 4 1 PC Paraguay 2003 g,q 8 7 10 HS Peru 12 2004 s 11 9 12 HS Philippines 2004 11 10 12 HS Poland 2004 19 18 20 HS Portugal 2004 7 6 8 HS Puerto Rico 2004 e,z 11 12 9 HS Qatar 2001 g 4 2 13 HS Republic of Moldova 2004 8 10 6 HS Republic of Montenegro 13 2003 g 15 14 16 HS Republic of Serbia 14 2003 g 15 14 16 HS Romania 2004 m 8 9 7 HS Russian Federation 2004 x 8 8 8 HS Rwanda 1996 n,t 1 1 0 HS Saint Lucia 2003 25 20 31 HS Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1991 20 18 22 PC Sao Tome and Principe 2000 q 14 13 18 HS Saudi Arabia 2002 g 5 4 12 HS Seychelles 1992 35 28 41 HS Singapore 2003 5 6 5 HS Slovakia 2004 18 17 19 HS Slovenia 2004 6 6 7 HS South Africa 15 2004 g,u 27 24 32 HS Spain 2004 z 11 8 15 HS Sri Lanka 16 2004 a,g,q 9 6 14 HS St. Helena 1998 v 18 20 15 PC Suriname 1999 14 10 20 HS Swaziland 1997 25 20 26 PC Sweden 2004 z 7 7 6 HS Switzerland 2004 4 4 5 HS Syrian Arab Republic 2003 a 12 9 28 HS Taiwan, China 2003 g 5 6 4 HS Thailand 2004 2 2 1 HS The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 2004 37 37 38 HS Trinidad and Tobago 2002 f 10 8 15 HS Tunisia 2003 15 … … HS Turkey 2004 a 10 11 10 HS Uganda 2003 g,q 3 3 4 HS Ukraine 2004 bb,g,w 9 9 8 HS United Arab Emirates 2000 g,t 2 2 3 OE United Kingdom 2004 z 5 5 4 HS United Republic of Tanzania 17 2001 g,q 5 4 6 HS United States 18 2004 a,z 6 6 5 HS Uruguay 2 2003 s 17 14 21 HS Venezuela 2003 aa,o 17 14 20 HS Viet Nam 2004 2 2 2 HS West Bank and Gaza Strip 2004 27 28 20 HS Yemen 1999 g 12 13 8 HS Zambia 1998 r 12 13 12 HS Zimbabwe 2002 8 10 6 PC

Sources:

International Labour Office, Table 8a. Unemployment (LFS), published in Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM) Fourth Edition, CD-ROM version (ISBN 92-2-017568-1) provided to United Nations Statistics Division in March 2007.

Footnotes:

The adult unemployment rate refers to the proportion of the adult (aged 15 years and older) labour force that is unemployed, unless otherwise specified. The unemployed are persons who are currently without work, who are currently available for work, and who are seeking or have sought work recently. The base for these statistics is the labour force (that is, the economically active portion of the population), not the total population.

The International Conference of Labour Statisticians adopted the following definition of the unemployed as an international recommendation in 1982: All persons who during the reference period were: (1) "without work", that is, were not in paid employment or self-employment as specified by the international definition of employment; (2) "currently available for work", that is, were available for paid employment or self-employment during the reference period; or (3) "seeking work", that is, had taken specific steps in a specified recent period to seek paid employment or self-employment.

National definitions of unemployment may differ from the recommended international standard definition. The national definitions used vary from one country to another as regards inter alia age limits, reference periods, criteria for seeking work, treatment of persons temporarily laid off and of persons seeking work for the first time. Inter-country comparisons are further hampered by the variety of types of source used to obtain information on unemployment and the differences in the scope and coverage of such sources.