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

Now, with the prospect of missing his first paycheque next week, he has applied for unemployment insurance, and reached out to the banks holding his mortgage and car loan, hoping for accommodation.

Read more on BBC

Beijing has spent recent years grappling with a range of issues that have weighed on growth and consumer activity, including a persistent slump in the country's vast property market and high youth unemployment.

Read more on Barron's

“The labor market has cooled to a curious balance with little hiring or firing and still low unemployment,” she explained.

Read more on Barron's

Increasing unemployment would spark more loan defaults after more than a decade of favorable credit conditions, they said.

Read more on MarketWatch

In the U.S., tighter immigration policies have shrunk the foreign-born labor supply but cooling demand for labor has kept unemployment steady.

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.