Define unemployment and unemployment rate, and give examples of ways in which the unemployment rate varies.

Unemployment (also known as joblessness) is the situation where a person is not currently employed but is actively looking for employment.

While unemployment rate can be defined as the percentage of the civilian labor force which is unemployed but actively seeking employment. It can be written as:

Unemployment Rate = Number of Unemployed / Total Labor Force

Age, gender, race, and cultural background are a few examples of the factors that cause the unemployment rate to vary.