Labour Underutilisation

• unemployment rate the proportion of the labour force that is unemployed, available to start immediately and actively looking for work;
• underemployment rate is the proportion of the labour force that is unemployed, plus thus who are employed but would like to work more hours;
• underutilisation rate is the proportion of the labour force that is underemployed plus:
  • persons actively looking for work, who were not available to start work in the reference week, but were available to start work within four weeks, and
  • discouraged job seekers, defined as persons who want to work and could start work within four weeks if offered a job, but who have given up looking for work for reasons associated with the labour market.

The differences, the additional underutilisation from the more expansive definitions of employed and unemployed have been relatively stable over the past decade, with the exception of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: ABS